


Different but the Same

by nyctophiljc



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst, Fluff, Harry Potter AU, Kinda, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, also kinda - Freeform, meanie, svt x hp au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-29
Updated: 2017-12-19
Packaged: 2018-07-10 23:26:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 51,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7012462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nyctophiljc/pseuds/nyctophiljc
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kim Mingyu. Half-blood, Gryffindor, star Quidditch player (Chaser to be exact), kind and friendly, average grades, good looks, has a lot of friends, he's basically the epitome of perfection. He has it all, what could he ask for more? A certain sixth year Slytherin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> this fic is based on the svt x hp au thread that i made on twitter. i can't get this out of my head so i decided to make it a fic instead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just a little introduction for y'all about their houses and statuses (and also a bit of their characteristics) so you won't get confused. enjoy!

**Choi Seungcheol:** Pureblood, Gryffindor, Seventh year; Seeker; Head Boy.

_Favorite subject:_ Defense Against the Dark Arts

⁃ One of the top students

⁃ Best student in DADA 

⁃ Best in dueling 

⁃ Quidditch is life (also the captain)

⁃ Hates History of Magic

  
**Yoon Jeonghan:** Pureblood, Slytherin, Seventh year.

_Favorite subject:_ Charms

⁃ Seungcheol's rival in dueling

⁃ Can do one or two non-verbal spells

⁃ Best student in Charms 

⁃ Also loves Herbology

⁃ Loves to watch Quidditch matches

  
**Hong Jisoo:** Half-blood, Ravenclaw, Seventh year; Prefect.

_Favorite subject:_ Transfiguration

⁃ Best student

⁃ Excels in every subject

⁃ One of the few students who enjoy History of Magic

⁃ Doesn't like Quidditch but watches anyway (for Seungcheol and Jeonghan)

 

  
**Wen Junhui:** Pureblood, Slytherin, Sixth year; Beater.

_Favorite subject:_ Defense Against the Dark Arts

⁃ Second best student in DADA

⁃ Also third best in dueling

⁃ Doesn't like boring subjects

⁃ Also good in most of his subjects

⁃ Best beater

 

  
**Kwon Soonyoung:** Half-blood, Gryffindor, Sixth year; Chaser.

_Favorite subject:_ Charms

⁃ Surprisingly excels in Charms

⁃ Doesn't like Potions (he always mixes up the wrong ingredients)

⁃ Quidditch is life 2.0

⁃ 1/3 who knows Hogwarts like the back of his hand (secret doors, traps, etc.)

  
**Jeon Wonwoo:** Pureblood, Slytherin, Sixth year; Beater.

_Favorite subject:_ Astronomy

⁃ Best in Astronomy in his year

⁃ One of the top students (even without efforts)

⁃ Junhui's rival in being the best beater

⁃ Always reading in the library

  
**Lee Jihoon:** Half-blood, Slytherin, Sixth year.

_Favorite subject:_ Potions

⁃ Best student in his year

⁃ Also excels in every subject

⁃ Most diligent

⁃ The most trusted student by teachers (who is not a Prefect)

 

  
**Lee Seokmin:** Muggleborn, Hufflepuff, Sixth year; Chaser.

_Favorite subject_ : History of Magic

⁃ Surprisingly loves History of Magic

⁃ Also loves Care of Magical Creatures

⁃ Always watches Quidditch matches outside the school

⁃ 2/3 who knows Hogwarts like the back of his hand

 

  
**Kim Mingyu:** Half-blood, Gryffindor, Sixth year; Chaser.

_Favorite subject:_ Care of Magical Creatures

⁃ Best chaser overall (might be the best player too)

⁃ Likes Charms

⁃ Doesn't like Potions (too clumsy)

⁃ Also loves Herbology (has put plants in their dorm room)

 

  
**Xu Minghao:** Pureblood, Hufflepuff, Sixth year; Beater.

_Favorite subject:_ Herbology

⁃ Has great dueling skills (often dueled with Junhui)

⁃ Excels in DADA and Transfiguration

⁃ Third best beater

⁃ Can also do some non-verbal spells

 

  
**Boo Seungkwan:** Muggleborn, Ravenclaw, Fifth year; Prefect.

_Favorite subject:_ Arithmancy

⁃ Third best student in the entire school (after Jihoon)

⁃ Best student in his year

⁃ Excels in Charms and Potions

⁃ Hates Quidditch

⁃ 3/3 who knows Hogwarts like the back of his hand

⁃ Might have let his best friends off from detention or taking away their housepoints

 

  
**Choi Hansol:** Muggleborn, Hufflepuff, Fifth year; Keeper.

_Favorite subject:_ Ancient Runes

⁃ Best student in Ancient Runes overall

⁃ Likes Divination

⁃ Has good grades

⁃ Always passes homework late

⁃ Also always late in class

 

  
**Lee Chan:** Half-blood, Ravenclaw, Fifth year; Chaser.

_Favorite subject:_ Transfiguration

⁃ Excels in Transfiguration

⁃ Hates boring classes

⁃ A big fan of Quidditch

⁃ Also loves DADA

⁃ Has great dueling skills


	2. I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mingyu's go-back-to-school and first day of school experience. He thinks he's unlucky, and his friend teases him.

Kim Mingyu is running out of patience. It is that time of the year again: they are going back to Hogwarts. Instead of relaxing in one of the compartments in the train, here he is, outside, waiting for the infamous sixth year Gryffindor. Mingyu had already put his luggage inside the train and went back outside just to wait for his friend. Mingyu puffs his cheeks and slouches his shoulders. It's 10 minutes until the train will leave.

“Mingyu!” Mingyu looks up and sees the newly promoted Head Boy. “You should come in, the train will leave soon.”

“But Soonyoung—”

“He's already here,” says Seungcheol.

Mingyu's eyes widen. “What? And here I am, waiting for him for almost an hour so we'd find a compartment together but the idiot is already in the train!” he rants. Today should be a happy day since they're going back to Hogwarts but no, his friend had to ruin that.

Seungcheol rolls his eyes. “Oh, shut up, will you? Just get in.”

Mingyu sighs and follows the older's order. Just when he thought his day couldn't get any worse, he has to find a compartment alone. (“Mingyu, I'm the Head Boy now, I have to be in the Prefects' carriage—No, Mingyu, stop whining like a brat.”) Mingyu wishes Seungcheol never became a Prefect in the first place.

Since it's already late, most of the compartments are already occupied. Hopefully, he will spot his Gryffindor friends. Not that he doesn't have any friends outside his house, he actually have a few but he doesn't want to end up in a compartment of a different house because that would be awkward.

“There you are! I was waiting for you!”

Mingyu notices the brown-haired boy jogging toward him. Mingyu scoffs. “I was waiting for you outside because apparently, you said, ‘Mingyu, meet me outside the train so we'll look for a compartment together.’” he hisses.

Soonyoung frowns. “When did I say that?”

Mingyu groans. His friend can be really dumb sometimes. “Whatever. I hope you saved us a compartment,” he says.

Soonyoung flashes him a grin. “Of course, I did! C'mon.”

The two start their walk toward their compartment. Minutes later, Mingyu notices something odd. They're not in the Gryffindor carriage anymore, they're passing the Hufflepuff carriage and they're still not stopping. Where is Soonyoung taking him? Is Soonyoung bluffing about saving a compartment? Well, maybe, the boy likes to pull pranks on everyone so Mingyu wouldn't be surprised if the boy is lying. Mingyu wants to complain but he decides not to. Hopefully, his friend is serious.

Then they are in the Ravenclaw carriage now and they're still walking. Base on Soonyoung's movement, they are still far away from their compartment. Mingyu doesn't like the idea even a bit.

“Dude, where are we going—”

“Shh! Just follow me, alright?”

Mingyu opens his mouth then closes it. Soonyoung would just shush him again if he asks anything. Mingyu already has a suspicion where their compartment might be and he hopes—he prays that he's wrong.

Maybe Mingyu didn't pray hard enough or maybe today is his unlucky day. The two Gryffindors pass the Ravenclaw carriage which means they're in the Slytherin carriage now. Mingyu doesn't like to be near Slytherins. Most of them are kind, no one had bothered him in any way yet but Mingyu finds them very intimidating and he doesn't like it. He even feels uncomfortable as they're walking inside the carriage full of Slytherins. He wants to run away.

When they find their empty compartment, Mingyu decides that today is his unlucky day. He sits down and puts up his long legs on the bench, facing the hallway. As he begin to finally relax, a bunch of Slytherin students begin to crowd in the hallway. He sees a few familiar faces and one of them is a certain spectacled sixth year. Mingyu hears his friend giggle across his seat.

“Aw, Mingyu spotted his crush,” Soonyoung coos.

Mingyu jolts up from his seat like he's going to attack his friend. Soonyoung backs away and laughs. “Shut the hell up, Soonyoung,” he mutters.

When Mingyu comes back to his position and looks again outside, his heart stops. The spectacled Slytherin is looking back at him straight in the eyes. Mingyu looks away, feeling his cheeks warm up. He mentally groans. _Why does it have to be now?_

Thankfully, the traffic in the hallway ceases and the Slytherins go away to their compartments. When the spectacled boy is out of sight, Mingyu releases a breath he didn't know he was holding. He leans his head back against the window, wanting to smash his head on it instead.

Mingyu feels extremely exhausted when they arrive at Hogsmeade. His butt feels numb after seating for hours. He wants to be in bed now and sleep but all of them have to be in the Great Hall to watch the Sorting ceremony. Mingyu is never excited about it, he is more excited about the feast. He feels his stomach grumbling.

In the middle of the boat ride, Mingyu wants to dive into the lake and drown. Soonyoung has told a funny joke which made him laugh really loud but it soon turned into a fit of cough until he sounds like he's choking. The spectacled boy's boat is beside theirs and he was watching Mingyu laugh intently. Mingyu is silent the rest of the ride.

The rest of the evening seems to be on Mingyu's side. The ceremony gets him distracted and not once throughout the feast he thought of the spectacled boy seated a table away from him. As always, the food is good and Mingyu feels so full. Someday, he wants to try to cook all these food and it would remind him of his Hogwarts days.

When they get to their dorm, Mingyu changes into his pajamas and goes to bed. And once again, the spectacled boy slips into his mind.

* * *

Mingyu turns around to find a Hufflepuff running toward him. The said boy is radiating, Mingyu can already feel his happy aura and his eye smile feet away. When the boy reaches him, he gives him a hug and a pat on the back. “Good to see you, Seokmin. How have you been?” he asks.

Seokmin fixes his disheveled uniform, though it doesn't change the appearance. “Great! My mom got me locked in my room for the rest of the summer but it was great,” his friend replies, sounding really proud.

“You sneaked out to watch a Quidditch game again?” Mingyu asks.

“Dad actually bought the ticket but I'm not ratting him out,” he says. Seokmin's parents are very supportive of him being a wizard and all, despite the fact that his parents are both muggles. Seokmin have been the student everyone's envy of since his parents buy all the things he needs, no hand-me-downs. But his parents can be the strictest persons ever.

“Wicked,” Mingyu comments with a grin.

The two students part off and go to their respective tables once they reach the Great Hall. Mingyu spots Soonyoung and Seungcheol who always sit at the middle, and goes to sit with them.

“Look who's up,” says Seungcheol.

Soonyoung looks up. “Oh, it's Lover Boy!” he exclaims.

Mingyu elbows Soonyoung's side and the latter bellows in pain. The Head Boy furrows his brows in question. Mingyu mentally slaps his face. Oh, how he wish he could put duct tape on his best friend's mouth.

“You're in a relationship again?” Seungcheol asks as he put butter on his toast. The older boy sounds more worried than curious.

Mingyu shakes his head. “Not anytime soon,” he reassures Seungcheol.

Seungcheol shrugs and starts to eat. The other two start to eat right after. Then their timetables are given to them after they ate. Seungcheol eventually leaves to go to Ravenclaw's table. He and his other Slytherin best friend have been always welcome at the Ravenclaw's table since their other best friend is there.

Soonyoung is looking at the back, talking to some Hufflepuff. Then he turns around and nudges Mingyu lightly. “Look at Slytherin's table, pretend you're looking for someone at Hufflepuff,” he whispers.

Mingyu waits for a few seconds before turning around in his seat. He let his eyes roam the Hufflepuff table and takes a peak at Slytherin's table. He's suddenly choking on the bacon he's chewing and turns back around. Soonyoung slaps his back a few times. Mingyu has caught the spectacled boy looking at him again and he didn't even flinch when Mingyu's eyes met his. Mingyu shakes his head and drinks his pumpkin juice instead.

Much to Mingyu's excitement, Gryffindors share Charms with Slytherins. Mingyu's smile falls off his face when the Slytherins start to come into the classroom. Charms is one of his favorite subjects but having the Slytherins here with them means having the spectacled boy in the same room. Mingyu doesn't want to be distracted and have his grades on Charms fall down fast than that loud fifth year Ravenclaw on a broomstick.

Soonyoung sits down beside him, sucking on a lollipop. “You okay, Lover Boy?” he asks, the lollipop still in his mouth.

Mingyu glares at his friend. “Don't call me that,” he grumbles.

“Why not? Would you rather be called that by your boyfriend?”

“He's not my boyfriend!” Mingyu whines.

“Oh, the famous star player has got a new boyfriend!”

The two Gryffindors spin around to see the flirt of the school who probably have shagged everyone. Beside him is the spectacled boy, quiet as ever. Mingyu feels chill running down his spine. “Shut up, Jun. It's not true,” Mingyu says.

“Really? Will you go out with me then?” He gives Mingyu a playful wink.

“Hey, get your greasy ass off my friend,” Soonyoung says.

Junhui leans over his desk. “Jealous are we?” he teases.

Soonyoung scoffs. “Shut the hell up,” he shots back. He puts his arm around Mingyu. “My friend here already got his eyes on someone.” Soonyoung wiggles his eyebrows at Mingyu.

Mingyu wants to jinx his friend right there and then. “Soonyoung, I swear—”

“Who is it?”

Mingyu feels frozen in his seat, he wants to Apparate at that moment—though he doesn't know how to do it and he is still underage. He stares at the other Slytherin beside Junhui. “Um, n-no one,” he stammers.

“You should date Junhui then,” the boy replies. “I'm getting tired of hearing him whine about not dating anyone and it's been only a day.”

“I don't whine, Wonwoo,” Jun defends.

Wonwoo chuckles. “Yes, you do.”

Mingyu only smiles slightly and turns back around. Wonwoo, the spectacled Slytherin boy who he has a crush on since first year, just talked to him. Yeah, sure, it isn't much of a conversation and it isn't interesting but he still talked to him. Mingyu can feel his cheeks warming. Thankfully, Wonwoo is behind him and he can't see Mingyu's cheeks turning into a deep shade of red. However, Soonyoung can definitely see what is happening to Mingyu. Mingyu is thankful Soonyoung doesn't talk about it but he doesn't miss the teasing look his friend gives him.

To summarize the first period, Mingyu doesn't understand one bit of their lesson as he is far too busy thinking about the spectacled boy behind him.


	3. II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mingyu faces the person he doesn't want to see the most again, bringing some past memories. At night, he thinks he's going crazy, and Soonyoung asks the worst type of question. Mingyu is maybe a little bit embarrassed about it.

Mingyu's head hurts, and what's worse is he has to finish a 3-foot essay about some goddamn plant. Mingyu loves Herbology. He's one of the few students who excels in the subject but this essay is doing no good to him right now. All teachers are assigning long essays, and all of them are due tomorrow. It's fall but he feels so hot. He wipes the sweat on his forehead with the back of his hand. He really needs to finish writing this.

After a while, Mingyu decides to take a break. He only needs a few inches, maybe 5 or less, to finish it. He stretches his body and also his fingers as he groans. He wants to smash his head against the table. Mingyu would have lay down on the long table if not for the other students in the Great Hall. He really almost forgot that he isn't alone.

“Well, well, well, our mighty Gryffindor star is alone.”

Mingyu turns around slowly, his jaw clenching. He hates that voice—no, he despises that voice. If he could, he would jinx the person but he doesn't like to be in detention especially when there are a lot of prefects in the room to give him one right now. It would all be just a huge mess. The house points would also decrease because of him, he doesn't like that.

“What do you want?” Mingyu asks through gritted teeth.

It's the most famous Ravenclaw—after Seungcheol's best friend who is the smartest student in Hogwarts—and the seeker of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, Aaron Sinclair. He also happens to be Mingyu's ex-boyfriend—first boyfriend, and Mingyu hates thinking about it now.

Aaron sits down beside Mingyu, and if he notices the way the latter stiffens, he doesn't point it out. “Nothing, just wanted to visit our mighty Gryffindor star.” Then he snatches Mingyu's essay.

“Don't call me that! And give me back my essay!” Mingyu hisses in annoyance.

Aaron Sinclair is a nice, sweet guy or maybe he used to be. Mingyu have always known Aaron since they're both Quidditch players but they never talk to each other until fifth year when they became partners in Potions. It was awkward for Mingyu at first but Aaron is natural at making new friends and communicating, to say he's good at it is an understatement. Then the two became closer and by the time Christmas came, they started dating.

Aaron was very sweet. He had always treat Mingyu and he was a bit funny, and he was protective. There had been also a time where Aaron purposefully didn't catch the Snitch just so Gryffindor would win. That was also the day they had their first kiss. Mingyu didn't really know what to expect from it and he had no other experiences to compare it with but he thought it was amazing. But then, like all other relationships, they had their downfall. They had grew apart, they no longer had time for each other, and Mingyu didn't feel it anymore. So he decided to broke up with Aaron at the end of April, realizing that he didn't love him anymore—or maybe liked, Mingyu wasn't sure about his feelings before. At first, Aaron was sad, they both were, but he also felt the same.

Everything went bad during the second week of May. Aaron Sinclair had changed. He became a total git toward Mingyu and had told him it was all Mingyu's fault why they broke up, that Mingyu wasn't contented with Aaron's affections, and that Mingyu wanted to seek another. Maybe it's true or maybe not. Mingyu understood the first few days Aaron was being an asshole, he had thought the latter was showing his side of being heartbroken. But it had continued for the whole month until the school year ended. But is it really Mingyu's fault that he doesn't have feelings anymore and he wants to be honest with it? Mingyu had felt guilty when he shouldn't had. Why? Because on the train home, Mingyu learned that Aaron had started cheating on him during February, which also the month they had their first kiss. Long story short, their train ride home wasn't peaceful.

“What will you do if I don't?” Aaron asks, waving the parchment.

Mingyu reaches for his wand inside his robes, he holds it tight. Aaron notices Mingyu's hand and laughs.

“What? You're gonna jinx me? As if you have the guts to do it,” he taunts.

Mingyu is getting sick of it so he raises his wand, not failing to see the scared look on Aaron's face. “ _Accio!_ ” Mingyu watches as the parchment flies out from Aaron's grasp and goes toward him.

Aaron gulps then puts a cool demeanor. “Seriously? That's all you can do?”

Mingyu scoffs and rolls his eyes. He really wants to punch Aaron in the face. But Mingyu only shakes his head and starts to fix his things. If Aaron won't leave Mingyu alone then Mingyu will leave Aaron alone. He stands up, his things clutch to his chest. But Aaron grabs his arm before he can take a step.

“Who says you can leave?”

Mingyu yanks his arm. “Who the bloody hell are you to stop me, scum bag?”

Aaron suddenly stands up which makes Mingyu take a step back. He whistles. “Our mighty Gryffindor is standing up for himself now!” He chuckles. “You're finally showing how cold of a person you are.”

“That's too desperate, even for you, Aaron Sinclair.”

Mingyu and Aaron spins toward the owner of the voice—deep voice. Standing behind Aaron is the most unexpected person Mingyu thought to show up between this bickering. Jeon Wonwoo is smiling slightly at Aaron, it's a kind of smile that holds mockery. It's almost a smirk.

“Get lost, Jeon!” says Aaron, annoyed, with a wave of his hand.

Wonwoo's head cocks to the side. “I don't know, how about you get lost? It's pathetic really how you act like an asshole to Mingyu but you just want to catch his attention because you know he will never come back to you ever again.”

Mingyu shivers. He doesn't know if it's because of how cold Wonwoo's words are or how Wonwoo says his name. He doesn't know if Wonwoo knows him but he had guessed that he did since they have always compete on Quidditch matches but to hear in person that Wonwoo actually knows his name gets him feel some type of way.

“Who the fuck—?”

“Are you still keeping this up? Look around, everyone's watching your stupidity,” Wonwoo drawls.

Aaron looks around. Mingyu does too, and Wonwoo is right, everyone is watching them. Mingyu feels the heat rose to his cheeks, he never liked to be the center of attention. Aaron only clucks his tongue in response and walks away. “What are y'all looking at?” he asks as he trots out of the Great Hall.

Mingyu is left with Wonwoo, and he doesn't know what to say. Is he supposed thank you? But how is he going to say that? Thanks? Thank you? Thank you very much? _Thank you so much, my knight in shining armor!_ Mingyu wants to slap himself. He feels his heart beating fast in his chest, it's like he can hear it. He wonders if Wonwoo can hear it too.

Wonwoo steps forward until they're shoulder to shoulder. He puts his hand on Mingyu's shoulder. “You don't need to say anything.” Then he leaves before Mingyu can response.

Mingyu blinks. Once, twice, thrice. The air is stuck in his lungs. Wonwoo's voice is making his knees wobble and to top it off, Wonwoo also touched him. It isn't intimate in any form but Mingyu's shoulder feels as if it's on fire. He wants to melt right there in the middle of the Great Hall, in front of everyone. Before he could really melt, he puts his head down and starts to walk toward the Gryffindor tower.

* * *

 “Will you stop that? You're making me dizzy.”

Mingyu stops his pacing and reluctantly sits on the arm chair. Soonyoung is lying down on the couch with his arms behind his head, looking at the ceiling. It's almost midnight and he and Soonyoung are the only ones left in the common room. Everyone else went to bed an hour ago. Mingyu's leg starts to bounce up and down. He tries to stay still, he really dos but he just can't.

“And for Pete's sake, stop fidgeting,” Soonyoung complains.

Mingyu throws his hands up with small groan. “I can't! Not when he's still in my mind.”

“Then go to sleep.”

Mingyu leans back against the arm chair, pouting like a child. “I can't too. Whenever I close my eyes, I see him, I hear him, goddammit, I even feel him!”

Soonyoung sits up and shakes his head. “You really got a serious problem.”

“I know,” says Mingyu. “I think I'm in love.”

Soonyoung cringes. “Never said that again while I'm around,” he says, disgusted.

Mingyu bursts into laughter. “For a happy-go-lucky guy like you, you sure are really the bitter type,” he comments.

“I'm not bitter,” the older boy defends. “You were just embarrassing and disgusting.”

“Totally bitter,” Mingyu says. “I was joking, by the way. I like Wonwoo but I'm not in love with him.”

Soonyoung grins, the type of grin Mingyu never liked. “Will you shag him though?” His eyebrows are wiggling.

“Soonyoung!” Mingyu protests.

“What?” The other boy laughs. “You're blushing so hard!”

“Shut up,” Mingyu grumbles. “I don't wanna think about that now.”

“Will you or will you not?”

“Whatever. I'm going to bed.” Mingyu stands up and walks away from his friend.

Soonyoung whines but makes no move to follow him. Maybe he's not sleepy yet, but Mingyu is sure about one thing and that is, his friend's going to be late tomorrow. Mingyu goes to their room and to his bed. He would always get flustered when the topic is about sex. He figures that's because he's inexperienced. He doesn't know if Soonyoung is a virgin or not, he doesn't really want to know but it's obvious that Soonyoung knows a lot more than him.

Yes, Mingyu had thought that Wonwoo's lips are kissable before, and that also his marvelous biceps resulted from being a beater for years makes him drool a few times, but that's it. He never passed beyond those thoughts. He never went too sexual about his thoughts about Wonwoo. But now that he thinks about it, maybe he will soon. Mingyu feels a tingling sensation run throughout his whole body.

“I need to sleep,” he says, trying to distract himself. “Think about your quiz tomorrow, Mingyu, yes, think about that. And go to sleep, yes, you need to sleep.”


	4. III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the first Quidditch match and Mingyu is out of himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING THIS. I'm really excited about this :((((( But school :(((( It's my New Year's resolution to finish all the stories I write. That's a promise.

Mingyu's feet reaches the ground, he discards his broomstick to the side. He doubles over, his hands on his knees as he pants. He sees Soonyoung dropping to the ground. Their other team mates are sitting on the grass, breathing heavily. All of them wet with sweat from practicing for hours, dirt glued to their glistening skins. Mingyu sees Seungcheol coming down slowly and more gracefully than any of them. He's on his knees when Seungcheol stands on the ground.

“Seriously, Seungcheol, are you planning to kill us all?” Soonyoung gasps.

Seungcheol's face hardens, and he puts his hands on his hips. “We're matching with Slytherin on our first game, as always. We barely won against Ravenclaw last year, we need to work harder.” Everyone knows Seungcheol is a nice guy but when it comes to Quidditch, he becomes a tyrant, especially when the opponent is Slytherin.

“Do we really have to do this?” asks the other chaser.

“The drill seems to be a lot harder than last year, my limbs are numb,” Soonyoung comments, almost whining.

Seungcheol still manages to smile proudly even though he's the only one who's happy about it. “Yeah, made it myself,” he boasts.

The others just groan, not exactly happy that they can't move their arms and legs right now. Their butts and backs are hurt too from sitting on the broomstick all day.

Mingyu finally drops to the ground, the grass stabbing his cheek. “Can someone carry me back to the dorm?” he croaks out.

 

* * *

 

It's the first Quidditch game of the year. Everyone is excited and talking about it. Mingyu wants to empty his stomach even though he hasn't eaten anything yet. He feels so anxious every morning when they have a game. He wants to curl up in his bed and let the anxiousness eat up inside him. But he doesn't get away when Soonyoung tugs him out of the bed, making him fall to the floor with a loud thud. He whines to his best friend but the other boy dumps his covers on him.

And now Mingyu enters the Great Hall groggily. He sits beside Soonyoung, who is happily indulging in some bacon and eggs, but doesn't make any move to eat. Soonyoung looks at him, chewing with his cheeks swollen because of too much food. Mingyu silently wonders if the boy ever stops eating.

“What ish yer pwobum?” Soonyoung asks, his mouth still full of food.

Mingyu grimaces in disgust and smacks his friend. “Don't do that! And I don't even understand what you're saying.”

“Ow!” Soonyoung swallows and glares at his friend. “You literally wiped your snot on my robes! Talk about disgusting,” he hisses.

Mingyu smacks his friend once again, earning a loud yelp. “That was one time!”

Soonyoung rolls his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, whatever.” The boy continues to eat.

“What were you saying earlier, by the way?”

“What is your problem?” Soonyoung glances at him. “You got that grieving look on your face.”

Mingyu sulks even more. He puffs out his cheeks with a sigh. “The match today,” he grumbles.

Soonyoung doesn't get to reply as the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain sits across them. Seungcheol rubs his hand together, looking at the food laid out on the table. “How are we today, lads?”

Soonyoung points a thumb at Mingyu. “This one's nervous.”

“Ah. I know you can't help it, it's not your fault,” Seungcheol says. Mingyu is a little bit grateful. “But you need to relax. We need to be 100% today. Focus, no distractions.”

Mingyu feels his stomach churn. He gets so easily distracted when he's nervous, he can't concentrate on a single thing. The fact that a lot of people put a faith on him because he's the star player only makes the situation worse. He hopes that he won't be distracted enough to fall off his broom. He sighs.

Seungcheol looks at him as he takes a bite of the bacon. “Hey, you should eat.”

“I don't feel hungry,” Mingyu replies in a low voice, almost a mumble.

“You need energy,” says Seungcheol.

Mingyu doesn't have any choice but to eat. He doesn't want to pass out in the middle of the class because of nervousness and because he skipped breakfast. Mingyu is on his second egg when Seungcheol stands up to leave for Ravenclaw table. It seems like the older's visit to the said table is becoming more frequent.

“Eat a lot, you two!” Seungcheol calls out as he walk away. The two nod in response.

“It's their last year. They're gonna miss each other so much,” Soonyoung suddenly says, his eyes on the 3 seventh years.

“What job does Seungcheol want?” Mingyu asks.

“He wants to be an Auror, I think.”

“He'll definitely be one.” Seungcheol is a smart and an amazing wizard, and he fits perfectly for the job. He turns to Soonyoung. “What about you?”

Soonyoung scratches his head. “We still have a long way to go. I don't want to talk about that now.”

“We're gonna be seventh years next year,” Mingyu says. “What did you talk about during your counseling? You're good at Charms so Obliviator perhaps?”

“A year is still long, Mingyu,” his friend replies. He goes silent for a few seconds. “I really don't know.”

Mingyu doesn't push anything after that and just continues to eat. He realizes that he himself doesn't know what job he wants either. He had talked about his career with their Head of House during his fifth year. He could consider continue as Quidditch player or a Dragonologist. He has always wanted to work with dragons since he was a child. Mingyu decides to forget about it, thinking that Soonyoung is right, it's still early for that.

After breakfast, Seungcheol calls for all the Gryffindor Quidditch players to get ready. They all go to the locker room to change into their Quidditch uniforms, and to get their brooms. Seungcheol then talks about their tactics a little bit and gives a small speech. Mingyu feels like his throat is dry. He is more nervous than earlier this morning, if that is even possible.

Mingyu falls behind his team mates as they go out to the field. The cheers of the crowd are deafening. Mingyu hears Seungcheol's best friend saying good luck to him. When the referee signals, Mingyu climbs onto his broom, gripping it tightly. Somewhere, Mingyu hears a voice telling him good luck. He knows it's Seokmin but he can't find the boy. He takes a deep breath, not trying to look at the Slytherin team so he won't get distracted. His heart feels like it wants to get out of his chest.

He hears the whistle, and flies off. At that moment, he doesn't hear a thing anymore. It's like he's in a different world and the only focus is the Quaffle. He catches it and zooms toward the goalpost.

Slytherin's famous strategy is known by all the students. That is to put the best against the best. Mingyu knows that their best Chaser is after him, somewhere behind him. That strategy also means that their best Beater, Junhui, is after him—the other Beater is after the two remaining Gyffindor Chasers. The strategy has been like that since Mingyu got into the team.

So it's a big shock when Mingyu sees Junhui go after the Bludger to hit it toward Soonyoung and the other Chaser. Mingyu suddenly feels cold, his limbs freezing, his mind blank. That means the other Beater, Wonwoo, is after him right now. His heart beat stops. Why did they change now?

Everything is fast but Mingyu feels like everything is in slow motion. He sees the shadow hurtles past him from above, and suddenly Wonwoo is meters away in front of him and, he swings his bat. Mingyu knows he can still dodge it and swerve down but he doesn't. He's frozen and he forgets how to move. He waits for the Bludger to hit him when a figure zooms in between them. The Bludger flies away, Wonwoo stares at him, his eyes boring into Mingyu's, for a second before chasing it. Mingyu's insides are suddenly eating him up. Then he realizes that the person that just saved his life is one of their Beaters, Catalina. She glares at him.

“Focus, Mingyu!” Then she zooms away.

When Mingyu sees the Slytherin Chasers beside him, he flies away fast. Thankfully, he scores, and the Quaffle is in Slytherin's possession. Mingyu takes a second to regain himself before flying after them. Slytherin fails to score, and the Quaffle is in Soonyoung's arm. Mingyu watches a little bit behind as Soonyoung dodges the Bludger Junhui sends. Mingyu sees Slytherin Chasers going toward his best friend so he speeds up.

Before the Slytherins could sandwich Soonyoung and steal the Quaffle, Soonyoung swiftly passes the Quaffle to Mingyu. Mingyu passes it back to his best friend as a Chaser almost steals it from him. Soonyoung scores and the two do a high five.

The game continues for the next few minutes. Mingyu seems to be a bit better now and is no longer distracted despite his crush sending him Bludger every minute. But Mingyu tries really hard not to panic every time Wonwoo's near. Their eyes would always meet after he dodges the Bludger the other sends. Mingyu makes sure to take a time to recover after it happens. Then the Gryffindor roars loudly as Mingyu scores again. He hears the commentator stating the score: 120-100 with Gryffindor leading.

Slytherin scores. The other Chaser passes the Quaffle to Mingyu as she gets blocked by the Slytherins. Mingyu catches it and passes it to Soonyoung as he hears the commentator saying that Seungcheol is now chasing the Snitch. He stops suddenly to watch Seungcheol.

“Mingyu!” he hears their other Chaser shouts.

Mingyu turns around to find her wide eyed and pointing at something behind him. He turns around and swerves to the right. He hears the whirring of the spinning Bludger as it goes past him, narrowly missing his hear. He finds himself having eye to eye contact with Wonwoo once again before the latter flies away.

Mingyu tries not to slip off his broom. His insides are all mushy and burning. He's grateful for Seungcheol catching the Snitch. His knees almost gives out as he touches the ground. He goes to the Captain hurriedly along with the other players. The commentator is shouting the results.

He does the bro hug with Seungcheol. He smiles widely. “Man, you're the best ever!”

Seungcheol grins. “Says you!”

Seungcheol is soon surrounded by the other team mates and fellow Gryffindor students. Mingyu sees Seungcheol's two best friend hugging him as they congratulate him. Mingyu steps away from the crowd, not wanting to be squished by the people.

Mingyu feels happy. Of course, he does. But he has this feeling he can't quite figure out, and it's getting in the way of him celebrating their victory. He wants to shout and jump around with the others but he doesn't, he can't.

“Congratulations.” Mingyu turns around fast. Wonwoo is standing behind him, removing his gloves. “It's a great game.”

Mingyu nods. Everything feels surreal to him right now. “Yes, it is,” he manages to say.

Wonwoo gives him a small nod before walking away. Mingyu's eyes follow his figure until he gets lost in the crowd. Mingyu blinks, trying to see if he's dreaming or imagining things.

“Mingyu! Amazing as ever!”

Mingyu sees Seokmin and Soonyoung jogging toward him. He grins and walks to meet them. The three are soon happily chatting about their favorite parts of the game. Soonyoung and Seokmin plan about throwing a party.

“It's been only the first game,” says Mingyu.

Soonyoung raises an eyebrow. “And so?”

Mingyu gives him a look.

“Oh, c'mon Mingyu! We won't get caught,” Soonyoung says with a lot of confidence.

“Don't wanna believe that anymore,” Mingyu replies, remembering all the promises Soonyoung gave that they won't be in trouble anymore. Soonyoung, Seokmin, and their other friend Seungkwan are the epitome of trouble.

Soonyoung puts up his right hand. “I promise!”

Seokmin joins in and says, “We promise.”

“If Cheol allows then it's okay. He's the Head Boy after all,” Mingyu replies.

“Oh, he'll join,” says Seokmin. “He's a seventh year now.”

The two give Mingyu smiles he knows that are up to no good. Mingyu only prays for his and his friends' detention record for the whole year.


	5. IV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mingyu doesn't expect anything during the party. He doesn't even expect he's going to get drunk but he is anyway. Unexpected things ensues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the longest chapter yet, I'm happy. This should have been posted days ago but I was stuck in our province with no signal yet alone internet. Lmao. MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! :)

Mingyu scratches his head for the umpteenth time because he doesn't know what to write. He curses his Potions homework due to pass on Monday. He loves learning but all these homework and exams don't help. He thinks it only makes learning complicated. He still tries his best though.

Tonight is  _the_  night. Mingyu tries to stay away from Soonyoung today—not that Soonyoung, Seokmin, and their other best friend, Seungkwan, are being too troublesome—Soonyoung wants him to invite students, Slytherin students in particular, and Mingyu can't handle that. Gryffindor students are too scared to invite Slytherins since Slytherin lost the game, and this party is all about the victory of Gryffindors.

Soonyoung has been pestering him to invite Slytherins and Mingyu is not scared, he's shy rather. Mingyu whined and said that Seungcheol should do it since he has a best friend there and he seems to be friends with everyone. But the Head Boy is nowhere to be found.

So Mingyu hid himself in the library, and does his homework instead. It's Saturday after all, and everyone is at the Great Hall or outside. No one bothers to go to the library on Saturdays, of course except for that brilliant seventh year Ravenclaw.

Mingyu watches as Jisoo Hong, the smartest student in Hogwarts and also happens to be Seungcheol's best friend, sits at the table nearby. The boy gives him a small nod, and Mingyu returns it with a small smile. Jisoo looks younger than his age and has an angelic face.

Mingyu hesitates. “Um, have you seen Seungcheol?”

Jisoo looks up from his textbook. “Oh,” he pauses, “I think he's at the Quidditch field.” Mingyu would believe it if he doesn't notice that glint in Jisoo's eyes.

“Okay,” he says. “Have Seungcheol invited you to the party?”

“Party?” He shakes his head. “No, I don't think so. I think he doesn't know it.”

Mingyu silently curses Soonyoung. The boy said that Seungcheol knows and he has agreed to it. “Thanks,” he says as he shoves all his things inside his bag. “Please do tell others that there is a party at Gryffindor tower tonight. The password is Formatogoria.” Mingyu dashes off before Jisoo can say anything.

Mingyu last saw the three troublemakers at the Great Hall during breakfast so he goes there again. The Great Hall is almost empty when he arrives and there are no signs of them being there for the past hour. They must have left too as soon as Mingyu left.

The problem is not how big this castle is but how will he look for them. It is impossible to find the trio when they're missing. It's like they don't want to be found and it's working because no one can find them. Mingyu remembers his conversation with Soonyoung this morning if the boy somehow mentions where they will be going but unfortunately, he said nothing because all Soonyoung said this morning is: “Invite Slytherins.”

“Bloody invite Slytherins,” he mutters.

He goes to seventh floor instead, having a great feeling that the trio are in the Room of Requirement, smuggling firewhisky and butterbeer. Mingyu has been there only twice when Soonyoung invited him to ditch classes back in fourth year, and when Soonyoung again invited him to practice dueling there. Mingyu doesn't know how else Soonyoung uses the room but half of them are surely with mischief.

He sees a figure standing in front of the entrance of Room of Requirement and for a second, Mingyu thinks that he's in the wrong place but he's sure this is where that room is. He gets closer and sees the figure clearer. He stops dead in his tracks as he realizes that Wonwoo is staring at the entrance of the room.

Wonwoo looks at him then stares at him. He looks a bit different and Mingyu realizes that it's because he's not wearing his spectacles. Mingyu thinks Wonwoo is beautiful with or without it but he prefers with spectacles because it feels like he's looking at the real Wonwoo and not some pretender.

“Have you seen Soonyoung?” Mingyu asks before things get awkward.

Wonwoo is still for a moment. “No.”

Mingyu doesn't know what to say after that or maybe he knows but he's too shy and coward to speak up. He nods before turning around to go. He's maybe five or so steps away when he stops walking, biting his lip. He looks back to find Wonwoo still looking at him. Mingyu feels the beads of sweat running down his temples. “There will be a party at t-the Gryffindor t-tower…” Mingyu hates himself for stammering in front of Wonwoo.

“Sure,” Wonwoo says.

“Really?” It's too late when Mingyu notices how glad and relieved his tone is. And maybe his eyes are sparkling. Mingyu doesn't want to think about it.

Wonwoo nods. “Yeah.”

“Alright,” Mingyu says awkwardly. “The password's Formatogoria, by the way.”

Wonwoo only stares at him and Mingyu quickly turn away, feeling uncomfortable with the boy's unknowing gaze. Mingyu really needs to sort himself whenever the spectacled boy is around, he can't always be like this and make a fool of himself. He wonders how the boy thinks of him.

He's at the stairs when he wonders why Wonwoo is in front of the Room of Requirement. Mingyu never thought that other students know about it, he thought that only the trio and him know about the room. Why does Jeon Wonwoo need it? Mingyu wants to know but he's in no position to know anything. They're not friends, for starters. And they're likely not going to be. For the past few years Mingyu has been here in Hogwarts, he can count on his one hand how many times he had a conversation with Wonwoo.

Mingyu is halfway through the door when a loud boom erupts. Mingyu ducks his head in instinct. The boom continues now mixed with yells and profanities. He runs toward the nearest armchair, hiding behind it. He takes a peek at the commotion, and he immediately sees the trio.

The room is filled with bright colors. There are too many sparks for the room. Mingyu ducks with a scream when one goes his way. He gets his wand from his pocket and points it at the explosions. Soonyoung sees him and his eyes widens in panic.

“No, don't!” Soonyoung shouts. “It'll only get worse!”

Mingyu ducks once again as a spark almost hits him in the face. “What the hell did you do?”

“We have no idea!” Seokmin yells.

The explosions make Mingyu deaf. He covers his ears and crawls toward the staircase, trying his best to dodge out sparks. One touches the end of his sleeve, he quickly puts it off before the fire can touch his skin. Mingyu is on the middle of the staircase when the noises died out.

Mingyu looks up and sees the sparks slowly falling to the ground, fading. The boy sighs in relief and leans against a stair level. The trio are panting with two of them on their knees, and one barely on his feet.

“Wow, I think we've been trying to make it stop for almost an hour now,” says Soonyoung.

“You can't have that here! Whatever that is,” Mingyu says.

The shortest one yet the cleverest of them rolls his eyes. “Yeah, I think we have already figured that out,” Seungkwan says with much annoyance. “And that's a Wildfire Whiz-bang, by the way. If you're interested to try.”

Mingyu never really got along with the Ravenclaw fifth year. Seungkwan isn't the type you'd see as a Prefect but he is, and Mingyu still questions it—and will continue to question it for the rest of his life. Mingyu is pretty sure that their Headmistress knows about all the shits these three have been doing. But despite that, Seungkwan is really kind and joyful but it's arduous to get past by all his armor and know his soft side.

“Whose idea is this?” Mingyu asks, ignoring Seungkwan's retort.

Seokmin gets up from his knees and slumps on the nearest chair. “Soonyoung's,” is all he says.

Soonyoung, still on his knees, raises both of his hands up. “Don't just blame me! Seokmin is the one who introduced me to it,” he says.

“Yeah, but I did say it's dangerous to try,” Seokmin replies.

Mingyu looks around the common room and mumbles a curse. Seungcheol will be definitely angry at them if he finds out. Gryffindor might be deducted out a hundred points or more. Mingyu is a little grateful for Seungkwan not deducting anything. (Well, it's their fault in the first place.)

“Anyway, you should clean that up,” Seungkwan says, making a gesture that says everything.

Soonyoung frowns. “Don't you mean 'we'?”

Seungkwan looks at him. “Do you want me to deduct points?”

Soonyoung stands up and puts his hands on his hips. “Do you want me to send it?” Mingyu doesn't miss the terrified look on Seungkwan's face. “Because I'll send it, I'll really do, you coward ass.”

Mingyu asks, “What is it?”

“None of your business,” Seungkwan says before turning away and casting a spell.

Soonyoung gives Mingyu a smirk and Seokmin chuckles silently. Mingyu thinks about it but decides to forget it. He's not in the place to pry. That must be really a secret for Seungkwan is silent the whole time. Mingyu also has to spend a Sickle so a noisy fifth year won't say a thing to anyone, Seungcheol in particular.

Mingyu goes to the dorm as the trio and others decorate the common room. He lies down on the bed with a sigh. He doesn't even remove his shoes when he falls into a deep sleep.

The sky is dark when Mingyu wakes up. He can't feel his legs and blames himself for not choosing a better sleeping position. He goes through his mountain of clothes and changes into a clean—or not, he can't keep tracks anymore—comfy shirt. He hears music, wondering where it comes from.

He goes downstairs and is immediately swallowed by the crowd. He forgets about the party, how can he forget about the bloody party? Mingyu has a difficult time trying to make his way through the sea of people. There are definitely more people here than the usual. He sees Seokmin talking with some seventh years and he walks toward him, shouting a few “Sorry's” and “Excuse me's.”

Seokmin excuses himself from the group when he sees Mingyu coming. The boy gives Mingyu a cheerful smile and puts an arm around his shoulder. “Look who's here! Where have you been?” asks Seokmin.

“I was upstairs,” Mingyu says it like it's an obvious fact because it is. “I feel dizzy.”

“Drink this.” Seokmin shoves him a glass.

From the smell of it alone, Mingyu can already tell that it's firewhisky. He tries to give it back to Seokmin but the latter is persistent. Mingyu reluctantly gulps the firewhisky in one go. The fire shot through his veins and he hates how strong that drink is (or he's a lightweight, he figures not). Mingyu doesn't remember how he gets three more shots next.

The next moments are blur for Mingyu. He knows he's dancing and drinking more, he's not ashamed, he knows he's a good dancer than the most. He forgets everyone he's with: blue eyes, golden hair, crooked teeth, dark skin, slanted eyes. Everyone's tipsy like him or maybe worse. He sees a guy doing bottoms-up with a big bottle of firewhisky. Mingyu shakes his head at the thought of the Headmistress or any of the professors not knowing anything.

The time is unknown when Mingyu rests at the makeshift bar. He's not sure if it's actually Seungcheol who's tending but the room is too dark so he doesn't bother. There's already a couple making out beside him, their movements almost tearing apart their clothes. God, Mingyu hopes they're sober enough to know that they're in a crowded room.

He dances again. He feels the fire of the drink hyping him up, and maybe he likes it. He doesn't remember being this too fired up on a party. This might be the best party yet, he doesn't know why. The stench of exhaust and stress leaves his body, Mingyu is a little too happy. He yells something that the crowd yells back. Everybody becomes a hundred times ecstatic.

A little later, Mingyu finds himself outside in the hallway, with a bottle of firewhisky. He's staggers and falls to the ground with laughter. He leans against the nearest wall. He laughs again for an unknown reason. He's too drunk to move but sober enough to know what's going on—or parts of what's going on. 

“Didn't take you for a party animal.” 

Mingyu looks up with a hiccup. He's too drunk to form a proper and normal reaction. But if he's sober, he'd definitely blush hard and hide away. But the alcohol made him braver. Oh, the irony of Mingyu being a Gryffindor.

“Just this—” he hiccups, “party,” Mingyu says.

Wonwoo, his hands in his pockets, saunters over Mingyu, and sits beside him. Mingyu offers Wonwoo the alcohol but the latter politely declines. “I'm a lightweight,” Wonwoo says with a chuckle.

“I am too,” Mingyu replies. Another hiccup.

Wonwoo shakes his head. “No, no. Like super lightweight, I can't handle a shot of firewhisky. You know that Muggle wine?” Mingyu nodded, his Muggle mother always buys one during Christmas. “I can't drink a glass of it without getting dizzy.”

“Really?” Mingyu doesn't know if he's acting to what Wonwoo said or this entire conversation. He can't believe he's chatting with his crush, at last. He only hopes he doesn't forget this when the morn comes. Mingyu doesn't realize he takes a swig again. Another hiccup comes.

“Okay, gimme that.” Wonwoo takes the bottle from Mingyu with slight force but Mingyu wants more of the firewhisky or maybe he just likes how close Wonwoo is when he's taking the bottle away. He smells good, really good. Like of that lavender or jasmine with a tint of mint, Mingyu can't figure it out. And Wonwoo wearing a casual shirt that made his biceps bulged out more gives Mingyu a tingly sensation.

Mingyu pouts. “I want more,” he whines.

That's the first time he sees Wonwoo smile, a genuine smile, and he looks cute, more than adorable. Mingyu has some sense not to pinch the boy's cheeks. He realizes that Wonwoo is not wearing his spectacles. His insides are bubbling up. Either the alcohol or Wonwoo, he thinks.

“Where are your spectacles? You look really cute with it!” Mingyu doesn't prevent himself from saying that out loud. He's going to curse himself not for the huge smile Wonwoo gives him.

“I feel like I look stupid with it,” Wonwoo confesses.

Mingyu snorts. “You're the fucking most gorgeous person. Stop thinking that.”

Mingyu only says what he thinks, Wonwoo realizes that. And he doesn't know if it's only the influence of the alcohol or it's the inner Mingyu nobody knows. Mingyu sees the change of tint on the other boy's cheeks. He feels smug now that he made Wonwoo blush. Mingyu isn't aware they're lost in each other's eyes until the other looks away and looks at the dim hallway.

“What time is it?” Wonwoo asks.

Mingyu only shakes his head, feeling dizzier than before. He hiccups again.

Wonwoo stands up, dusting off his jeans. He looks down at Mingyu and the latter looks up hopelessly. “You're different than I thought, Kim Mingyu.”

Mingyu is once again alone with his bottle of firewhisky.


	6. V

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mingyu has a hangover and accidentally eavesdrops to a conversation. Long story short, he's confused and brooding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so here's an update! i'm really sorry for the five-month hiatus but i'm gonna make it up to you :)

Mingyu doesn’t deny the fact that he was shitfaced last night nor he has a hangover when he woke up. When he’s functional enough, he feels his skin is hot and sticky. He realizes that it’s just his sweat so he removes his shirt and smells it before throwing it in the hamper. His head feels like it’s spinning non-stop. He wishes he didn’t drink that firewhisky. Bottles of firewhisky.

Firewhisky, he was drinking that in the hallway.

And he was talking with _Jeon Wonwoo._

And Wonwoo gave him a smile, a genuine smile.

Mingyu groans and falls back in his bed. He is alone in the dorm right now so he grabs his pillow and screams against it. He was drunk last night while talking to Wonwoo but he remembers everything clearly. He told Wonwoo that he’s gorgeous—which is not a lie— _but_ how is he going to face Wonwoo now? He feels embarrassed.

“ _You’re different than I thought, Kim Mingyu._ ”

Mingyu wonders what Wonwoo meant by that. Shaking his head, Mingyu decides to shower to get the stench of sweat and alcohol off him.

Once again, Mingyu is all alone in the shower room. He assumes that it’s almost lunch and everyone is in the Great Hall already. He scrubs his body clean, trying to get rid of the stench and his hangover. Then he thinks of what Wonwoo last said to him again.

Wonwoo said that he’s different than he thought. Is it a good different or a bad one? Did Wonwoo think badly of him? Or maybe Wonwoo thought Mingyu’s a good person but he’s actually not? Mingyu makes a sound that is almost like whine and groan combined. He hopes he doesn’t blow his only chance with his crush.

The common room is back to normal when he gets down. No more bar, the couches and chairs are back to their original place. But it’s also empty, Mingyu finds it a little bit creepy, and he saunters out of the room. He doesn’t find anyone in the hallways either, his footsteps are echoing loudly through the walls. Mingyu quickens his pace. He lets a sigh of relief when he hears chattering as he nears the Great Hall.

As expected, everyone is there waiting for lunch to be served. Mingyu lets his head down when he notices some students looking at him. He finds Soonyoung who is chatting with the other students, and sits down beside him.

“Why is everyone here? The hallways are empty, it’s creepy,” Mingyu says.

“Oh!” Soonyoung exclaims. “You’re finally awake. The Headmistress announced something, Seungcheol and I have been trying to wake you up to no avail.”

Mingyu’s headache comes back and he wants to bang his head against the table. Nonetheless, he endures it. “So Seungcheol knows about last night? We’re not in trouble?”

Soonyoung frowns at him. “Don’t you remember anything from last night?” he asks.

“I do.” Mingyu sounds like he’s trying to convince himself. “I guess some of it. I don’t really know anymore.”

Soonyoung laughs. “Seungcheol was stopping you to take all the firewhisky bottles from the bar,” he says. “It’s so funny, he was carrying you away from the bottles, and even put you to sleep.”

Mingyu is horrified. Did those really happen or is Soonyoung just playing with him? “Soonyoung, I’m serious.”

“What?” the other boy asks. “And you think I’m not? Seungcheol is probably at the Ravenclaw table again, go ask him yourself.”

“Damn, I believe you, okay?” Mingyu does but a part of him doesn’t want to, a part of him tells him that it’s all lies. “You suddenly look pissed off, why?”

Mingyu’s best friend shakes his head. “No, nothing,” he answers. “The person I asked out just rejected me.”

Mingyu’s eyes widen in shock, and he leans in to whisper, “Seokmin?” Since they were first years, Soonyoung has a huge crush on Seokmin, and that’s why he befriends the said Hufflepuff. They became close along with Seungkwan and since then, Soonyoung’s afraid to ask Seokmin out. He doesn’t want to ruin their friendship. That’s why he hasn’t gone to any serious relationships, Soonyoung still hopes that him and Seokmin can work out. Can it be true that he’s fretting over that’s not Seokmin?

“No!” Soonyoung gives Mingyu a harsh look, Mingyu chuckles and raises his hands in surrender. “It’s someone else.”

Thankfully, lunch appears before them. Their conversation is forgotten as they indulge themselves with delicious food.  Mingyu feels bloated after he finishes his food, he is very satisfied. But his headache comes back again, he can’t help but groan lowly. Soonyoung watches him cautiously as he sips his juice.

“Are you having stomach ache?” Soonyoung’s voice is full of concern. “Go to the bathroom before—”

Now it’s Mingyu’s turn to give his friend a harsh look. “It’s just headache,” he says. “Really, really, bad headache.”

“We can go to the Hospital Wing to get a potion,” Soonyoung suggests.

Mingyu has no choice but to agree. Soonyoung helps his friend to go the Hospital Wing which is on the fourth floor of the hospital tower. Mingyu curses in his head why Hogwarts has to be huge but it’s actually one of the things why he loves his school so much. He is glad they sent him here instead of Mahoutokoro School of Magic which he will have to attend to for ten years, Mingyu doesn’t want that.

It seems like Mingyu is not the only one with hangover when they reach the Hospital Wing. There are already students in beds. The nurse is already in frantic, trying to take care of all the students at once. There used to be two nurses in Hogwarts but Mingyu has no idea where the other went.

“Why is everyone having headaches?” They hear the nurse say.

Mingyu and Soonyoung look at each other but they don’t talk about it. Even if the professors get suspicious, they don’t have any evidence that something (specifically, a party) happened. All they have are students getting headaches, and that’s not a valid one. Soonyoung and the others probably got rid of the firewhisky bottles.

The nurse approaches him and lets him lie down on one of the beds. “How bad is yours?” she asks.

“ _Very_ bad,” Mingyu answers, emphasizing the ‘very.’

The nurse shakes her head before leaving to get another bottle of the potion. Mingyu doesn’t know if it’s his imagination or the nurse actually mutters, “These kids should know how to control their intake of alcohol.”

Mingyu confirms that she really said it when Soonyoung turns to him and answers his questioning look. “Well, they’re not gonna find out who did it.” Mingyu knows what Soonyoung’s talking about: they’re not going to know who hosted the party.

The nurse comes back and gives him a small glass of clear liquid. Mingyu knows it’s not water but he finds it odorless when he smells it. Without further ado, he drinks the liquid in one go. Which definitely isn’t a good idea when finally tastes it, and he tries not to cough it up all over the bed. He feels like he’s going to puke all his lunch right there. He puts his hand on his mouth and swallows the potion grudgingly.

“If your head still hurts after dinner, come back and I’ll give you another dosage,” says the nurse and she leaves.

When the nurse is out of hearing, Mingyu gasps. “I’m not going to drink hard to have hangover ever again,” he says.

“Is it that bad?” Soonyoung asks, nodding his head at the small glass.

Mingyu nods. “It’s super bitter and sour, and it’s also like a little bit salty and spicy.” Mingyu can’t explain it well because it doesn’t taste like anything he knows but that is as accurate as he can get with it.

Soonyoung makes a face. “That will probably make me throw up. Anyway, why were you even drinking so hard last night? You know you’re a lightweight.”

“I’m not that lightweight,” he argues. “I honestly don’t know.” And it is the truth. Mingyu just felt like drinking too much, and now he regrets it.

“Don’t give me that,” says Soonyoung, not believing him. “Is this about Wo—“

“SHHH!” Some students look at them but Mingyu lowers his head down and covers half of his face. When the students go back to what they are doing, Mingyu grabs Soonyoung’s arm until the boy is sitting beside him on the bed. “Don’t say his name when you’re with me. Let’s not just talk about him in public, okay? And no, it’s not about him.” Mingyu really hopes that it’s not about Wonwoo.

Soonyoung nods. “Okay then, if you’re that embarrassed of your crush,” he teases.

“Shut up,” Mingyu mumbles. “What about you? You still haven’t told me about that guy who rejected you.”

Mingyu notices that his best friend’s aura grows dark. “Why do you say he’s a guy?” Soonyoung sounds so defensive.

“Well, after Josefina I thought you’re not going to get it on with another girl,” he says. “At least not anytime soon.” Josefina Madrigal was the last person Soonyoung hooked up with. Josefina is obsessed with Soonyoung that when Soonyoung told her that their relationship wasn’t serious, it didn’t end well.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Soonyoung confesses. “He’s a Slytherin.”

Mingyu is taken aback but he grins widely. “I guess we have a thing for Slytherins.”

“Oh, fuck no,” Soonyoung says. “Slytherins hate me, and it’s just a one-time thing.”

Mingyu rolls his eyes. “You’re literally the only one who says that Slytherins hate you. They don’t, dumbass.”

“Yes, they do, Mingyu.” Soonyoung looks at his watch. “Oh, shit. I promised Seokmin that I’m going to help him with his Charms homework. Do you want me to get you back to the dorm?”

“No, no. You go to Seokmin,” Mingyu insists. “I’ll be fine here, I’m just gonna get some rest.”

Soonyoung gives him a smile. “Good. Don’t think about _him_ too much.” With a wink, Soonyoung sprints off before Mingyu can reply.

Mingyu sighs before pulling the curtains that divide him from the empty beds beside him. He’s going to sleep, and he doesn’t want anyone watching him. He lies down on the bed and stares at the high ceiling. As bad as the potion tastes, it is very effective. Mingyu can no longer feel his head like it’s getting smashed.

Mingyu closes his eyes and the last thing he remembers is his conversation with the spectacled Slytherin and his beautiful smile when he doses off.

* * *

_Mingyu is back in the hallway again. He finds a bottle of firewhisky in his hand. He stares at the bottle then lifts his gaze up on the door of the common room to his right. He knows this, he has been here. He knows what’s going to happen. Mingyu will never forget it even after hundreds of hangover and headache._

_To his left is a figure of a person. It’s dark but Mingyu knows that it’s Jeon Wonwoo. It has to be. But Wonwoo is walking away toward the darkened hallway. Mingyu forgets the bottle and drops it, rolling away from him. He tries to call Wonwoo but his voice is low, too low. He tries to shout but Wonwoo doesn’t hear him._

_“Wonwoo!” he screams._

_Wonwoo is far away._

_“Wonwoo!”_

“Wonwoo! What are you doing here?”

Mingyu sits straight up. The curtains are still closed, he breathes a sigh of relief. He mutters thanks to no one in particular for the curtains. Usually, there are no curtains or dividers in the Hospital Wing. But Wonwoo is here. Is he a patient too? Wonwoo said he doesn’t drink. Then Mingyu realizes that the voice came from the bed on his left. He leans in a little bit to hear their conversation more clearly.

“Wayne told me you’d be here,” someone says. The voice is deep and unmistakable to Mingyu’s ears; it is Wonwoo.

He hears a groan. “I told him not to say where I am.” The voice is familiar but Mingyu can’t recognize it.

“We have a Quidditch practice today,” says Wonwoo. So whoever he’s talking to is also a Slytherin Quidditch player. “I told you not to get drunk.”

“But it’s a party, Wonwoo. How can you not drink or get drunk in a party?” the guy whines. Mingyu is pretty sure he has heard that voice whining one time or maybe too many times but he never paid attention to it.

“The others didn’t get drunk,” Wonwoo replies. “Amadi said that she wouldn’t let you play next game if you don’t attend.”

Mingyu hears another groan. “Why is Amadi so hard on me?”

Mingyu finally realizes that they are talking about Amadi Jang, the captain of Slytherin Quidditch team. He has heard that Amadi is stricter even than Seungcheol, whom Gryffindors call a tyrant in the field. “If only you didn’t get drunk,” Wonwoo says.

Mingyu feels something weird in his nose. Before he knows it, he sneezes loudly. His sneeze is loud enough to stop Wonwoo from continuing whatever he has to say. It’s quiet for a moment, and Mingyu’s heartbeat grows fast. Then he shuffles back to the bed as quiet as he can and lies down, his back facing the left side so his face won’t be seen if they take a peek.

“Who’s there?” Wonwoo asks, his voice low.

Mingyu is about to answer but the other guy talks first, and he is _very_ thankful or else, he would have embarrassed himself more. “I don’t know. It’s been occupied since I got here. Why?”

“Nothing, I was just looking for someone,” the spectacled boy replies.

“Ooh,” the other guy teases. “You’re looking for that Gryffindor sixth year, aren’t you?”

Mingyu’s heartbeat is no longer fast, it feels like it has stopped. _Gryffindor. Sixth year._ And Mingyu is both. There are more Gryffindor sixth years in Hogwarts but is it possible that Wonwoo is looking for Mingyu? Why Wonwoo _might_ look for him, Mingyu doesn’t care. He just wants to talk to his crush again, and befriend him.

Mingyu hears Wonwoo chuckle, and it is music to his ears. “You do remember that I rejected him last night, right?” Wonwoo says.

_Wonwoo rejected someone?_

Mingyu doesn’t want to think about it but all his mind can put up is his best friend. Kwon Soonyoung: Gryffindor, sixth year, asked a Slytherin out…and got rejected. Mingyu shakes his head. Soonyoung is his best friend, and he knows that Mingyu has a huge crush on Wonwoo, he wouldn’t do that, no. But Mingyu’s mind tells him something else, and his heart feels like it’s eating him up.

“You did?” asks the other guy. “You two were practically kissing last night!”

“Shut up, you git,” Wonwoo retorts.

The other guy laughs. “If you don’t want him, I’ll have him,” he says.

The other guy’s voice becomes clear to Mingyu. He remembers when he has heard it whine. Every day during Charms, he hears that guy behind him. The guy who sits next to Wonwoo and is with him all the time. Wen Junhui. How could Mingyu forget about him and his voice? He’s practically talking non-stop during Charms.

And he’s been hitting on Soonyoung multiple times since the first day of school.

Mingyu doesn’t remember when their conversation has ended. But it has been quiet for a while so he guesses that it’s safe to leave. When he passes by Junhui’s bed, it’s already empty. He stares at it before exiting the Hospital Wing.

Mingyu goes straight to their dorm room. It is likely that Soonyoung is still with Seokmin who-knows-where but Mingyu doesn’t know where to find them. The common room is now full of people but Soonyoung isn’t there. He goes upstairs to their room and finds Soonyoung in his bed, sleeping deeply.

Mingyu thinks about it first. Then he shakes Soonyoung’s shoulders lightly. Soonyoung doesn’t react so he does it again with light force. Mingyu’s best friend only gives a grunt. Not knowing any choices, Mingyu throws off his blankets and grabs the older boy by his collar and shakes him. Within five seconds, Soonyoung’s eyes opened as he screams.

“What the bloody hell is wrong with you?” he asks, shoving Mingyu away.

“I can’t wake you up,” he says with a shrug. Mingyu bites his lip in nervousness while Soonyoung studies him. “I need to ask you a question.”

Soonyoung frowns. “You wake me up violently just to ask me a question? Can’t this wait? I just need more five minutes.” He’s about to fall back in his bed when Mingyu grabs his shirt.

“No, it can’t wait,” Mingyu says persistently.

He sits down beside Soonyoung on the bed. Mingyu doesn’t fail to notice the bad smell. He leans in toward Soonyoung and takes a whiff of him. He immediately retracts with an “Ick,” and covers his nose.

“What happened?” asks Mingyu. “You didn’t smell bad this morning.”

Soonyoung sniffs his shirt and makes a disgusted face. “I’ve got the bloody wrong shirt, shit.” He quickly finds a clean one and changes. He doesn’t sit back again and only stands at the side with his arms crossed. “So what’s up?”

Mingyu takes a deep breath. “Who did you ask out last night?” he asks.

He thinks he said it too fast because of the confused look Soonyoung gives him. Then Soonyoung finally says, “What is this about?”

Mingyu has a feeling that Soonyoung already knows why he’s asking. “Nothing,” he lies but everyone knows he’s a terrible liar.

“Mingyu, what is this about—”

“Wonwoo rejected someone last night,” Mingyu blurts out.

Soonyoung looks at him as if saying: seriously? But the older boy remains quiet and Mingyu expects for the worst. Maybe Soonyoung really liked Wonwoo and there’s nothing he can do about that now. Mingyu doesn’t know his body is too tense until Soonyoung rubs his shoulders. He gives a sigh. “And you,” Soonyoung pauses to chuckle, “immediately think that it’s me?”

Mingyu nods, feeling a little bit ashamed—or maybe not so little bit. “He rejected a Gryffindor sixth year and you were rejected by a Slytherin so you’re the only person that comes into my mind, and it’s a perfect match.” Mingyu knows he’s rambling.

“Seriously?” asks Soonyoung, sounding disappointed. “Where did you even get that information?”

“Junhui’s bed was next to me and I heard them talking,” he mumbles.

Soonyoung takes a step back and laughs loudly. Mingyu stares at him, wide-eyed, in confusion. “W-what’s funny?” Mingyu asks.

It takes a minute before Soonyoung’s laugh dies down. At that point, he’s on his knees, holding his stomach. “They were talking about Elias!” he exclaims.

Mingyu stands up. “Elias? Elias Martin?”

“Yeah,” Soonyoung confirms. “I think someone dared him to do that. He was drunk and he was already throwing himself at Wonwoo. I didn’t really think he’d do it though. But people will surprise you every day, I guess.”

“Why didn’t you tell me this?” Mingyu asks.

“I didn’t know I’m supposed to give you an update about your crush,” Soonyoung scoffs. “I was at a party, you git, not a bloody Wonwoo News Update.”

Mingyu gives him a look. “You know what I mean,” he says.

“Look,” Soonyoung says. “If it will help you sleep at night, the person that I asked out is Lee Jihoon.”

The name dawns on him. “Him?” he asks. “You asked him out? You have no chance on him.”

Soonyoung rolls his eyes. “Oh, thanks for the support, Mingyu. But I already know that.”

Lee Jihoon is the most brilliant sixth year in Hogwarts which is also a Slytherin. Mingyu envies him because the kid is good at Potions (and all the subjects), and there’s Mingyu, who has already owned sixteen cauldrons since first year. But that kid is quiet and Mingyu wonders if he and Soonyoung have any real conversations. Mingyu also finds him a little bit creepy because Jihoon likes to wander around Hogwarts and seems to be always present when shit happens. “When did this start?” he questions.

“I’ve been trying to talk to him since fifth year,” Soonyoung admits. His fingers are fidgeting and he looks at anywhere but Mingyu.

“And you didn’t bother to tell me?” Mingyu bellows.

Soonyoung shrugs. “I don’t think it’s that big of a deal.”

“Soonyoung, all this time, I still think you’re head over heels for Seokmin.”

Soonyoung doesn’t say anything. He only stares at the ground.

“Oh shit, you still like him,” Mingyu mutters. It isn’t a question so Soonyoung still doesn’t say anything.

After a minute of Soonyoung staring into nothing and Mingyu watching him, the former stands up. “I’m gonna take a walk,” he states. Then he clears his throat and pats Mingyu on the shoulder. “Now don’t brood over your crush, he’s still free. Now go get him.”


	7. VI

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mingyu tries so hard to avoid Wonwoo but always fails. And he may have or may have not blew his chance with his crush.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm really thankful for all of your comments/reviews! please keep them coming so i'll know what i have to improve. i never really thought people will read this. thank you all so much for the love! <3

The day Hufflepuff win against Ravenclaw, there has been a dispute between the two houses. It isn’t supposed to happen; Ravenclaw Quidditch players were calm, they have accepted that they had lost despite the fact that they only lose to Gryffindor. As the Hufflepuffs are celebrating, someone in the Ravenclaw stand suddenly shouts, “Hufflepuff cheated!” Mingyu shares a look with Soonyoung, they both know that voice.

Since that, the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students are throwing insults at each other. There are some who almost got into a fistfight. It takes a few minutes before the Headmistress can silence them, and they are all sent to their dormitories. Hufflepuff is really a good team this year. Seokmin has improved a lot, and Mingyu is afraid what will happen when they play against each other. Their Beater, Xu Minghao, is definitely one of their keys to the championship—Mingyu even considers him better than Junhui. And Mingyu is thankful for him for hitting Aaron Sinclair with Bludger multiple times. Gryffindors really need to keep an eye out on that one.

When they are about to leave the pitch, Mingyu sees Seungkwan running for his life as he is chased by Seokmin. Seungkwan should have kept his mouth shut earlier but everybody knows that the boy will never learn to do that. Soonyoung chuckles and shakes his head at his two best friends.

Mingyu and Soonyoung are talking about the game when he sees Junhui run after Minghao. Mingyu gets curious but decides to let it go. But then he remembers that wherever Junhui is, Wonwoo is also there. Mingyu grabs Soonyoung by the arm and gets them in the middle of the crowd.

“We just need to have faith in Seung—Dude, what the fuck?” Soonyoung complains.

“Just follow me,” Mingyu mumbles.

Soonyoung rolls his eyes. “Don’t need to when you’re literally dragging me,” he retorts.

Mingyu doesn’t respond anymore. He drags Soonyoung until they reach the Grand Staircase. Mingyu is never really a fan of the moving staircase. He curses whatever convinced Rowena Ravenclaw to think that this was a good idea. This is a school and moving staircases aren’t exactly what you call ‘safe’. And Mingyu hates it for making him late several times during first year—and he got his foot suck on a trick stair and had to wait for an hour before someone saw him too many times that he can’t count it by his fingers.

Soonyoung is complaining beside him but he doesn’t pay him any attention. Mingyu focuses on the stairs and his steps. Being in Hogwarts for six years is useless for him against this _bloody_ moving staircase.

“Oh, don’t step,” warns Soonyoung, making them both halt. “That’s a trick one.”

Mingyu looks at his best friend suspiciously but ignores the stair anyway. He knows better than not to listen to Soonyoung in times like this. Soonyoung knows every corner of Hogwarts like it’s his own house. Mingyu wishes he’s like him, he’s tired of checking every step every time, and he uses the Grand Staircase every day.

Thankfully, Soonyoung remains silent on the rest of the way. They are the first to come to the common room so they let themselves get relaxed on the couch. Soonyoung finds an unopened lollipop and opens it.

Mingyu watches him. “That could have a poison for all you know,” he says.

Soonyoung snorts. “Shut up, Mingyu.” Then he licks the lollipop and spits, throwing it at the hearth of the fireplace. He makes a disgusted face. “It’s Blood-flavored lollipop! Seriously, who would wanna eat that?”

“Catalina likes that,” Mingyu says.

Soonyoung shudders. “I can’t believe this,” he mutters. “Mingyu, wanna sneak some food from the kitchens?”

“We just had lunch two hours ago,” he says.

“And?”

“And nothing, c’mon, let’s go.”

Not a lot of students know about the kitchens in Hogwarts. But Mingyu is friends with _Kwon Soonyoung_ who, along with Seokmin and Seungkwan, knows every nooks and crannies in Hogwarts. Mingyu won’t probably know about the kitchens if not for his best friend.

He remembers the day when Soonyoung strolls inside the classroom with a stack of toasts in one hand while he eats. Their Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher took 50 points from Gryffindor for that and also took the toasts much to Soonyoung’s dismay but Seokmin just laughed loudly at the back. Mingyu had no idea what was that about but later that afternoon, Soonyoung brought him to the kitchens.

They have to be careful on the way to the kitchens since the Hufflepuff Basement is near there. When they reach the fruits painting, they make sure that no one is around and Soonyoung tickles the pear until the doorknob appears. He goes inside alone because unfortunately, Mingyu has to be the lookout.

“Why do I have to be the lookout?”

“You’re clumsy, Mingyu,” Soonyoung has said.

Mingyu snorted. “You’re also clumsy though.”

“But you don’t know the kitchens and the house-elves like I do. I’m gonna knock twice before I go out, knock twice if it’s clear, once if not.”

So Mingyu has to lean against the wall and wait outside. He stares at the ground when he hears footsteps. Mingyu bows his head down so the chance of them noticing him is slim. But the voices he hears are familiar and he’s surprised that he hears them together.

“C’mon! Just give me one chance!”

The second one groans. “Just live me alone, Jun.”

Mingyu looks up to see Junhui running after Minghao. They still haven’t stopped since after the Quidditch game. Minghao and Junhui say something in Chinese before the former quickly gets inside the Hufflepuff common room, leaving Junhui disappointed outside. Junhui gives a groan and turns around.

“Oh, Mingyu,” Junhui says, his sullen face becomes cheerful. “What are you doing here?”

“Hey, Junhui,” he greets. “Nothing, just waiting for someone.”

Junhui squints at him. Mingyu doesn’t know if it’s his imagination or Junhui really glances at the painting of fruits beside them. Then Junhui smiles. “Really?”

Mingyu nods. “Yeah.”

Before Junhui can say anything, they hear footsteps approaching. Both of them look at the stairs, waiting for that shadow to reveal itself. Mingyu doesn’t think that their situation could get more awkward than it already is—at least for him, he doesn’t know if Junhui finds it awkward—but he’s wrong. He wants to be absorbed by the wall or to be eaten by the floor by the time the person is revealed.

Jeon Wonwoo stands before them in the comfiest sweater Mingyu has ever seen. He takes a deep breath and hopes Wonwoo won’t notice him. Mingyu spent the whole week avoiding the said Slytherin, not like Wonwoo wants to talk to him or anything, he probably doesn’t. But Mingyu tries so hard not to have any encounter with him. And now all his efforts are ruined by this. For the past week, he has learned that wherever Junhui is, Wonwoo is there too. If only he knew that Junhui would be here, he wouldn’t agree to sneak some snacks from the kitchens.

Mingyu shivers a little bit when Wonwoo talks. “Jun, Amadi is looking for you,” he says.

“Again?” Jun rolls his eyes. “She really hates me, doesn’t she?”

“Just go to her, she’s in the common room,” is all Wonwoo says.

Without saying anything, not even a glance to Mingyu, Junhui leaves the two alone. Mingyu feels his hands sweating and he doesn’t know what to do. After the party and little incident at the Hospital Wing, Mingyu can’t face Wonwoo, he doesn’t know how.

“Are you okay?”

At first, Mingyu isn’t sure if Wonwoo is asking him but they’re the only two people in the hallway. “Yeah, I’m fine,” he mumbles.

Wonwoo nods and is about to walk away when they hear a knock. Two knocks to be exact. Mingyu acts like he doesn’t hear it but he doesn’t know if it’s effective since Wonwoo is looking at him then at the painting. Mingyu curses in his mind about why he’s not good at lying and acting.

Then the painting swings open, revealing Soonyoung with a plate of different kinds of food. “Dude, why didn’t you knock back? What’s—”

Soonyoung stops and stares at Wonwoo, his mouth forms a small ‘o’. Mingyu bites his lips nervously when Soonyoung glances at him. How are they supposed to explain this to Wonwoo? Well, it’s not that it’s unexpected because Hogwarts is a fucking magical castle but how will they explain how they knew about it? Mingyu wants to hit his head; he reminds himself that he doesn’t need to explain anything to Wonwoo.

Wonwoo looks at the stairs behind him. “Close the door quickly, students are coming,” he says and walks away.

Soonyoung closes the door immediately. He gets his wand and points it at the plate his holding. “ _Diminuendo!_ ” He covers his hand on now the shrunken plate of food as Hufflepuff students emerge from the stairs.

When they reach their room and Soonyoung has returned the plate to its original size, Mingyu takes a sandwich. He doesn’t bother checking it before he takes a bite. He trusts Soonyoung with his whole life if it comes to Charms-related things. Mingyu’s best friend is one of the students who excel on the said subject which seems to be a surprise to most people.

Soonyoung turns to him with his hands on his hips. He raises a brow. “Mingyu, what was that?” he demands.

“What was what?” Mingyu asks innocently.

“Earlier with Wonwoo? Why didn’t you knock?” the older boy asks, sounding anxious.

“He heard your knock! Wouldn’t it be more suspicious if I knocked back?”

Soonyoung huffs. “At least, he won’t find out what _really_ is in there,” he says.

Mingyu shrugs. “I think he already does so quit your whining and eat.” From the way Wonwoo had looked at the painting and him, Mingyu suspects that Wonwoo already knows about it, even Junhui probably knows about it. And his facial expression didn’t change one bit when the door opened.

“What if he doesn’t?” Soonyoung still sounds worried and he starts to pace back and forth.

Mingyu puts the remaining sandwich on the plate and stands up. He grabs Soonyoung by the shoulders, stopping him. “I’m pretty sure Wonwoo knows about the kitchens already,” he reassures his friend. “Have I told you that I saw him standing in front of the Room of Requirement one time? Even if he doesn’t know, he’ll probably won’t tell anyone so calm down and enjoy these snacks.”

His words seem to have an effect on Soonyoung since the boy has stopped pacing. “Room of Requirement?” he asks.

Mingyu gets a pumpkin tart from the plate and nods. “Yeah, I don’t know why he’s there though,” he answers.

“Did you see him the day of the party?”

“Yeah, why?”

Soonyoung stares off to the distance like he’s reliving a memory. “I also saw him that day. We were about to put the drinks inside the room. I was the lookout so I had to check the corridor first and I walked past by him. But there was nothing in the Room of Hidden Things so he must have used it in other ways. I wonder why he would need it.”

Mingyu takes a bite of the tart. What could possibly Wonwoo do with Room of Requirement?

“Why is Wonwoo even there anyway?” Soonyoung asks.

“He had to get Junhui,” he tells his friend. “And Junhui was there trying to persuade Minghao, probably asking him out.”

“Well, that’s unexpected,” Soonyoung says. “But like I’ve always said, people will surprise you every day.”

* * *

Kim Mingyu loves animals. He grew up wanting to have a job related to the nature of animals. He had spent two years of his childhood in the Muggle world. His mom had wanted him to also know the Muggle world. Mingyu had owned a puppy and that made him want to be a veterinarian but the puppy had died because of an illness. It was the saddest day of his life. He wishes he could cuddle him again.

Since then, Mingyu pursues the same job in the wizarding world—he wants to be a Dragonologist. He has excelled in Care for Magical Creatures since he was a first year, and now he’s taking a N.E.W.T.-level of the subject.

Today, their professor has taken them outside like he usually does but not at the same spot. They’re farther from the castle and the ground was nothing but soil, there’s no grass or plants. Mingyu wonders how could there be such thing. All around them are plants and tress but the clearing is dead of nature.

Mingyu’s heart leaps out of his chest when their professor reveals what is inside the cage in front of them. There stands a baby Ukrainian Ironbelly. Mingyu has seen dragons when he was a child but never up close. His mouth is agape in awe as their professor discusses the dragon.

He has read books about them so he knows a little bit on how to deal with them. Since there aren’t a lot of N.E.W.T.-level Care for Magical Creatures students, they are given time to interact with the dragon individually.

Mingyu wants to be the last so he watches as his fellow classmates interact with the baby Ukrainian Ironbelly. The dragon is released from the cage but is still on leash for safety purposes. There are some students who are scared to touch it and almost cried because the dragon tried to burn their hand but luckily, it burned the grass instead. But there are also some students who are natural on dealing with it just like Elias Martin. Mingyu suddenly remembers that Elias had asked Wonwoo out and got rejected. He doesn’t know if he’s happy or sad for Elias.

Speaking of Wonwoo, he realizes the boy not in the class today. Mingyu scans the students again, making sure if Wonwoo is really absent. Wonwoo isn’t the type to ditch classes especially when this is a N.E.W.T.-level class. But who is Mingyu to say that? He’s not even close with Wonwoo so he doesn’t really know him at all.

After Elias, it’s Mingyu’s turn. Mingyu watches Elias and the latter catches him. Mingyu looks away but he definitely feels the confused look Elias gives him. Mingyu approaches the dragon with a smile.

As expected of the best student in the class, interacting with the dragon is no sweat to Mingyu. The dragon easily warms up to him and his classmates are envious of it. His professor even gives him a piece of meat to feed it to the dragon. When it’s finished, his classmates give him a round of applause. Mingyu can’t help but blush a little.

“Am I late for this?”

Mingyu spins around quickly. He meets Wonwoo’s gaze. And it suddenly feels like their classmates are gone and they are alone in the clearing.

“Oh, Mr. Jeon, where have you been?” asks their professor.

“I was at the Hospital Wing, Professor,” he answers. “But when I heard that you’re discussing dragons today, I came as fast as I could.”

_Wonwoo is sick?_

The professor gives Wonwoo a pitiful look. “You shouldn’t have come here, Wonwoo. You need to rest.”

“I’m okay, Professor, truly,” Wonwoo insists. His expression may be the same but Mingyu sees the eagerness in his eyes.

The professor nods. “Well then, Mingyu, may you assist Wonwoo please.”

Mingyu clears his throat. “Y-yes, Professor,” he murmurs.

Mingyu has been avoiding Wonwoo the whole week even after the kitchens incident but the universe really wants him to suffer. No, he doesn’t want to avoid Wonwoo because he doesn’t want to see him. He only wants to spare himself from embarrassment. But whatever he does, it seems like he can’t avoid this. He can’t avoid Jeon Wonwoo.

Wonwoo approaches him and gives him a curt nod, Mingyu returns it back with a small smile. Since Mingyu is supposed to be the last, their professor lets the other students go to their next class. Mingyu and Wonwoo will be given excuse slips for their next class. And the professor sits down on a trunk far enough to be out of hearing but near enough to be within sight.

“So…” Mingyu starts, he is very nervous. “This is a Ukrainian Ironbelly.”

Wonwoo looks at him. “Like the one in Gringotts, right?”

“Yes, that one,” Mingyu says with a grin. There’s a silence between them as Wonwoo continues to study the grey metallic dragon. “They can really be dangerous when they grow up but right now, they’re not harmful yet, you can touch it if you want.”

Wonwoo gives him a small smile—which may have made Mingyu’s stomach swirling—and _tries_ to touch the dragon but it almost caught his fingers. Wonwoo immediately withdraws and makes a good distance between him and the dragon. The dragon makes a low snarl and grits its teeth before sitting back down like nothing happened.

“I’m sorry!” Mingyu exclaims and runs toward Wonwoo. But it doesn’t seem like Wonwoo has noticed him for his fingers are fidgeting and his eyes are still on the dragon. The Ukrainian Ironbelly blinks at them innocently.

Their professor notices the commotion and walks toward them. “Is everything alright?” he asks.

“Yes, sir,” Wonwoo says. Mingyu can still see the fear in Wonwoo’s eyes.

“Well, it’s best for you two to go to your next classes,” says the professor.

Without a second thought, Mingyu and Wonwoo go back to the castle. It’s a bit long walk and it is a quiet one. Mingyu is afraid to talk and he doesn’t know what to say. Some students’ interaction with the dragon are also like that (yes, there are some who almost cried) but no one has reacted the way Wonwoo did. He really looked like a scared and helpless child. Mingyu is worried about him, and he feels guilty.

Finally, Mingyu has the guts to ask the older boy. “Are you okay? I’m really sorry.”

Wonwoo stops walking. “Yes,” he answers, his voice deep and stern. And his gaze is too hard that Mingyu feels like it’s going right through him. After a minute of them looking at each other, Wonwoo tells him, “Please get away from me.”

Mingyu watches, dumbfounded, as Wonwoo walks away from him.


	8. VII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mingyu finds a way to talk to Wonwoo. (Not really, Soonyoung does).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not edited so bear with all the mistakes.

“What the fuck did I do?”

“For Pete’s sake, stop pacing back and forth!”

Mingyu stops and faces his friend. “What did I do?”

Soonyoung rolls his eyes. “It’s not your fault, Mingyu. He’s just probably scared or something.”

“And told me to stay away from him?”

Soonyoung stands up in frustration. “Look, if it bothers you that much, you can always ask him about it.”

Mingyu’s eyes widen and he shakes his head. He wants to talk to Wonwoo _so_ bad but he can’t even start a proper conversation with him so how? He definitely doesn’t want to embarrass himself but he can’t live like this. He almost didn’t get sleep that day—he’s not even sure if he had any. He was awake all night, thinking all the possible reasons why Wonwoo acted like that but he didn’t make a solid one. “You know I can’t.”

“I can set it up if you want,” Soonyoung offers.

Mingyu looks at him in confusion. “You’re not that close with Wonwoo,” he says.

“Yeah but I’ll ask Jihoon,” the older replies with a shrug.

Jihoon. The guy that _rejected_ Soonyoung is going to help Soonyoung set up a meeting for Wonwoo and Mingyu. “Jihoon?” he asks. “Am I hearing this correctly or are you really going at it with Lee Jihoon again?”

“Oh, sod off, Mingyu,” says Soonyoung. Mingyu gives the boy a judgmental look until Soonyoung groans and gives him information. “Okay, okay! He said he felt bad about rejecting me so he said we should start over again…as friends.” Soonyoung looks down at the floor as he whispers the last part.

“Oh,” Mingyu says. Then he grabs his friend’s shoulders, making him look at him. “Everything starts at friendship, right? Don’t lose hope. Let’s see if everything will turn out like what we want but if not then fate or whatever the hell there is can fuck themselves.”

Soonyoung laughs and punches Mingyu on the shoulder playfully. “Oh, man, you should hear yourself.”

Mingyu wiggles his eyebrows. “Do I sound wise?”

“No, you sound dumb.”

“Shut up. Just admit it.”

“There’s nothing to admit, Mingyu.”

“Whatever.”

Mingyu considers this day peaceful. He aces his Herbology exam which is a surprised one. He almost had a panic attack but he remembers that there’s nothing to worry about. He’s confident in Herbology, he loves it. He has decorated their dorm with plants whenever he has time. But Soonyoung, as usual, destroys everything.  He doesn’t really think that his friend is serious about setting him up with Wonwoo but here he is, at The Quad, waiting for Wonwoo.

Mingyu was studying at the Great Hall when the most unexpected thing happened—even more unexpected than his conversation with Wonwoo. Lee Jihoon approached him like it’s the most normal thing in the world. A few students looked at their way, most of them are the ones who love gossips.

Jihoon didn’t waste any time and told him, “Meet Wonwoo at The Quad at 3 in the afternoon.” And before Mingyu could say anything, Jihoon had already walked away.

Even now, it is a lot to sink in. First, this is Jihoon. It is ironic that for a small guy like him, he is very intimidating for a tall guy like Mingyu. Second, this is Wonwoo. After what happened in Care for Magical Creatures, Mingyu never thought he could face Wonwoo again.

Mingyu’s life has been like that since sixth year started. He encounters Wonwoo in the most unexpected and odd ways, he doesn’t want to face Wonwoo so he avoids him but then, he always ends up meeting the Slytherin anyway. Mingyu wishes he can just have one normal encounter with Wonwoo. He hopes that today will be that day.

After ten minutes of waiting, Mingyu thinks it’s all just a prank. Maybe Soonyoung is trying to impress Jihoon by the means of humiliating Mingyu. Before he can come up with other ridiculous ideas, Wonwoo sits beside him on the bench.

“Oh, shit, you scared me,” Mingyu says. He chuckles nervously afterwards.

Wonwoo nods lightly, his lips slightly curling up. “Jihoon said that you have something to tell me?”

Mingyu finds himself speechless. Whether it is because of Wonwoo or the question, he doesn’t know. Even after their interactions for the past two months, Wonwoo’s presence still baffles him. He always feels like it’s a dream come true. Finally, he clears his throat and looks away from Wonwoo’s gaze. Mingyu nods. “Yeah…” He takes a glance at Wonwoo before staring at the ground. “About what h-happened a d-d-day ago.”

Yesterday isn’t really a good day for Mingyu. He spent the day sulking in his classes; he didn’t listen to their professors, he pretended that he did but his mind was thinking about Wonwoo. If only he knew that the dragon won’t warm up to Wonwoo, Mingyu would never let him near it. He regretted everything. Mingyu never saw Wonwoo that day and he doesn’t know if it was a good thing or not.

Wonwoo sighs. “Yeah, about that.” He scratches the back of his neck. “I’m really sorry if I reacted like that. I didn’t mean what I said.”

Mingyu feels the heaviness from his chest go away. He sighs in relief. “Good,” he says. “I really thought you want me to stay away from you.”

“Why?” Wonwoo asks, his face still impassive. “Does it matter if you stay away or not? We're not friends.”

Mingyu tries not to show that he flinches but he fails. Harsh words but it's the truth. They're not friends so why the hell Mingyu cares if Wonwoo wants him to stay away or not? Mingyu finds the courage to say that he wants to be friends with Wonwoo but he doesn't. “I don't know. Does it?”

Wonwoo stares at him for a long time but whatever he's thinking is not evident on his face. The boy shrugs and sighs. “I guess we have to find out, don't we?”

“Y-yeah, I guess s-so,” he replies.

A thick silence envelopes them. Mingyu is glad it isn't awkward, it's relaxing instead. A breeze comes and Mingyu closes his eye, sighing as it hits skin. The trees nearby rustles and he also finds comfort in it too. He rarely gets outside the castle because of too much schoolwork except during Quidditch trainings but that isn't really relaxing at all. Also, Soonyoung spends more time with his two best friends and Mingyu doesn't feel like going out alone.

Somehow, Mingyu feels that someone is watching him. He opens his eyes to find Wonwoo watching him. Mingyu feels his heart beat quicken and he smiles nervously. Wonwoo gives back a small smile.

“Wanna go to the lake?” Wonwoo asks.

Mingyu really likes going to the Great Lake so he nods happily. Most of the time people go to the lake especially during the weekends but everyone is stacked with schoolwork so it's empty. But maybe that's a good thing because nobody will gossip about them. The last thing Mingyu wants is to be Aaron's target again. His school life is perfect as of now, he doesn't want Aaron to ruin it.

The two find a spot underneath a nearby tree. They sit down, not caring that the grass is a little bit damp. They watch the calm lake, giving off small ripples now and then.

“I hope this pays off for what I've said back then,” Wonwoo says.

“Don't worry about it,” Mingyu assures him. “It’s my fault anyways.”

“No, it’s not,” Wonwoo says, pushing his askew spectacles. “It’s my fault.”

Mingyu looks at the older boy. “How could it be your fault?” Wonwoo is about to open his mouth to answer when Mingyu says, “Never mind, don’t answer that. You don’t owe me any explanation so don’t answer. Plus, whatever it is, it’s still not your fault, Wonwoo.”

Wonwoo nods. “Okay, if you say so.”

Mingyu wants to know Wonwoo’s explanation so bad but he forces himself not to ask about it. What he said is true, Wonwoo doesn’t owe him anything so it’s okay if he doesn’t tell. And Wonwoo looked uncomfortable when Mingyu asked about it. Whatever the reason is, Mingyu hopes that it’s not horrible.

The lake gives a large ripple which makes Mingyu sit straight up and watch it in focus. He’s been in Hogwarts for six years but he never really saw the Giant Squid. He remembers that he fell from the boat during his first year and something pushed him back. Mingyu always believes that it’s the Giant Squid. Mingyu was called Graceless Mingyu for a week because of that. Who would’ve thought Graceless Mingyu is now the star Quidditch player of Hogwarts?

“Oh, look who it is!”

The familiar voice makes Mingyu jolt up and turn around. It seems like God or whatever it is above wants Mingyu to really suffer because standing in front of them is none other than Aaron Sinclair. Mingyu wants to be taken by the Giant Squid at that moment. Why does Aaron have to ruin everything?

Wonwoo stands lazily and leans against the tree. “I swear to God, you’re so obsessed with Mingyu,” he drawls.

That makes Aaron irritated, his brow is scrunched up. “Yeah, tell me, how does it feel like being his new toy?”

“Oh, it’s so great actually,” Wonwoo taunts. “Didn’t know he’s such a good kisser.”

Mingyu’s mouth becomes agape, not knowing what to say.

Aaron scoffs. “Of course, he would already be sucking your face off.” Aaron looks at Mingyu, his eyes full of hatred. “That’s what he’s planning to do to all sixth year guys.”

Before he knows it, Mingyu launches at Aaron. He gets to punch Aaron solidly in the face, making the Ravenclaw stumble to the ground. Mingyu just now feels his blood boiling up, he wants to give Aaron another hit for what he did to him. He realizes that Wonwoo is holding his arm when the boy pulls him away slowly from Aaron. Mingyu lets himself get pulled, taking deep breaths to calm himself.

Aaron spits on the ground as he gets up. “Wow, didn’t expect that.” He laughs. “Did you get it from our precious boy Wonwoo?”

Mingyu decides to go along with everything. “Yeah, I did.” Mingyu doesn’t know where he gets the courage from but he says, “Didn’t know his tongue is like a work of God. He’s so much better—.”

Aaron makes a lunge at him, his fist ready to collide with Mingyu’s face. But Wonwoo intervenes, grabbing Aaron’s stretched arm and hitting him in the face. Mingyu watches with both awe and terror as Aaron drops to the ground. Aaron is groaning but seems to be too lightheaded to move.

“Is he okay?” Mingyu asks softly.

Wonwoo looks at him and shrugs. “Probably.”

They hear a voice from the distance call out, “Aaron? Where did you go?”

The two look at each other before running away toward the other entrance to the castle. Wonwoo grabs his arm and leads him to the Gryffindor tower. Luckily, the hallways are empty because Mingyu doesn’t want to add any more attention to him from Jihoon talking to him. When they reach the door to the dorm, Mingyu is a little bit sticky from sweat and so is Wonwoo. The two stare at each other, panting.

“Wow,” is all Mingyu can say.

Wonwoo nods. “Yeah, wow.”

Mingyu bites his lip nervously. Wonwoo standing in front of him still feels surreal to him. The spectacled boy’s beauty is magic, it makes Mingyu weak, happy, and relaxed all at the same time. No human should be beautiful like that.

“Are you a half-Veela?” Mingyu suddenly blurts out.

Wonwoo is obviously taken aback by the question. Then he chuckles. “No,” he answers.

Mingyu feels his cheeks getting warm. “Right.” He scratches the back of his neck, feeling awkward with Wonwoo’s gaze.

“You should go inside,” says Wonwoo, cocking his head to the door.

“Yeah, I should.” Mingyu gives Wonwoo a one last nod before saying the password—not caring that Wonwoo can hear it—and entering the Gryffindor common room with a huge smile on his face.


	9. VIII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mingyu is confused half of the time. And he hears a familiar-yet-not name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry if this took too long. SCHOOL FUCKING SUCKS.

“You’re telling me you didn’t kiss yet?” Soonyoung asks.

“Oh my God, Soonyoung! Can you stop that?” Mingyu complains.

Soonyoung ignores what Mingyu said and whines, “How come you didn’t kiss yet?”

Mingyu groans and just lets his friend talk. They’re on their way to their Potions class with Slytherins and it means he’ll get to see Wonwoo again. To say Mingyu is excited is such an understatement. He is _beyond_ excited.

But when they get inside the classroom, Mingyu’s smile fades away. The seat beside Junhui’s is empty and Wonwoo is nowhere to be found in the room. For what Mingyu knows and he knows quite a lot about Wonwoo, the Slytherin never skips classes. It can’t be a Quidditch practice because they don’t allow practices during class time. Is he sick again?

Mingyu sits at their usual seat. He turns back around to ask Junhui but the latter is talking to someone else. But Junhui catches him looking at him before Mingyu turns back around. So when their conversation ends, Junhui taps Mingyu on his shoulder.

“Do you need something?” Junhui asks.

Before Mingyu can reply, Soonyoung butts in, “He’s looking for his crush.” Mingyu punches Soonyoung in the arm which earns him a groan from the latter.

Junhui’s eyebrows quirk up. “Oh, you mean Wonwoo?”

Mingyu doesn’t know if someone had put him under a _Petrificus Totalus_ spell. The evil smile that Junhui gives him makes him choke on his own saliva, and the wide teasing grin on Soonyoung’s face makes Mingyu want to punch him more. “W-what?” he manages to ask.

“I’m not dumb, Mingyu,” says Junhui. “The way you look at Wonwoo? That’s not some friendly shit right there.”

Mingyu coughs or chokes again, he doesn’t really know. “I don’t like Wonwoo,” he lies.

“God, Mingyu. Why are you such a terrible liar?” Soonyoung asks. Junhui looks at him as if he’s also asking the same question.

“Shut up, Soonyoung,” he hisses.

Junhui leans in. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell him.”

“Tell whom what?”

The three of them are aghast when Jihoon suddenly sits down beside Junhui. Junhui looks at the younger Slytherin as if he’s seeing a ghost. Lee Jihoon is that intimidating that even other Slytherins get intimidated by him.

“W-w-what are y-you doing here?” Soonyoung stammers, his cheeks turning pink.

“Wonwoo asked me to be your partner,” Jihoon says to Junhui which earns him a confused look from Junhui.

“He’s never done that before,” says Junhui.

Jihoon snorts. “That’s because he’s never skipped a class before,” he says. “Don’t you even know why he’s gone for today?”

Junhui only rolls his eyes so Mingyu asks, “Why is he absent?”

Jihoon shrugs and they all avert their eyes to Junhui. “Stop looking at me like that. I also have no idea where that git is,” he says but Mingyu almost believes it. Mingyu is never a good liar but at least, he can tell when people lie sometimes.

But before Mingyu can ask Junhui, their professor strides in. Mingyu mumbles a curse. He’s not really great at Potions, he even questions why he’s here in a N.E.W.T-level Potions class with Lee Jihoon. Only Jihoon is born for Potions while Mingyu is the opposite. All his gracefulness from Quidditch vanishes the second he enters their Potions class.

Mingyu had broken a lot of cauldrons before. He always had to mail his parents to buy him a new one and sent it over to him. He would never forget that one time where he blew his cauldron up. It was back in first year and it didn’t go unnoticed to everyone at Hogwarts. Mingyu hates remembering those days. He doesn’t even understand why did he agree to be Soonyoung’s partner since that boy isn’t any better than him, he always mixes the wrong ingredients. It’s a surprise Soonyoung hasn’t set the school on fire.

Potions today is painfully boring and it feels like Mingyu is in the room for 5 hours. He can’t even concentrate because a certain Slytherin keeps creeping in his minds. When their professor dismisses them, Mingyu almost cries out loud but Soonyoung tugs on his robes before he can stand up. Soonyoung lets go when their professor gets out of the room.

Mingyu is about to jump from his seat and dash away when he hears Junhui whisper behind him. “What is wrong with him? Didn’t he know that we don’t go well?” he says. “God, that was the most awkward Potions I ever had.”

“Also the most productive one,” Jihoon retorts back. “You never listen to Wonwoo and he does all the work. Why do you still have this class anyway?”

Junhui scoffs. “Shut up.”

The two Slytherins pass them by, still engaged in their conversation. Mingyu gives a questioning look to Soonyoung which the older answers with a shrug. “How am I supposed to know they were close? I thought Jihoon had no friends or acquaintances.”

Mingyu glares at his friend. “You’re so judgmental.”

Soonyoung mocks him, “You’re so judgmental.”

Mingyu rolls his eyes. “Damn, I have History of Magic next. I guess I’ll see you later,” he says.

While Soonyoung goes to the kitchens to get some food first, Mingyu continues to go up to the seventh floor where his History of Magic class will be. After carefully passing by the moving staircases, he reaches the seventh floor corridor.

For some reason, the corridor is empty despite having a class nearby that will start in a few minutes. Mingyu finds it eerily odd. Every time he takes a step, he feels like someone will pop out of nowhere yelling that he’s being pranked. Why does he always get in a situation like this again? He feels like the castle is playing with him.

Mingyu isn’t that easy to scare but when he hears a shuffling noise, he almost runs away. But he takes a deep breath and tells himself that he should be brave. He’s a Gryffindor, he should be able to do that. As he turns to the next hallway, he is suddenly pushed back and his back hits the wall, making him grunt.

When his eyes recognize the person who bumped into him, still clutching his robes, Mingyu feels like choking on nothing. Wonwoo is staring at him with bloodshot eyes. Wonwoo’s expression is very hard to read but Mingyu can read his eyes at that moment. It’s sadness, anger, and disappointment all at the same time. How can Wonwoo feel like that? It seems like Wonwoo’s eyes are asking for help.

Mingyu decides to wrap his arms around Wonwoo and lets him relax against him.

* * *

 When Wonwoo falls in his arms, Mingyu doesn't know what to do. For a few seconds, Mingyu freezes on the spot, staring at the lumped body he's supporting. Then panic hits him in the face. He grunts as he moves the Slytherin into a more comfortable position. Wonwoo is a skinny person compared to average sixth years but holy fuck, he doesn't really weigh like one.

“What the hell?” Mingyu groans.

He looks around, hoping that someone will pass by but the corridor is as empty as his bank account. With another grunt, he lifts Wonwoo into a bridal position.

Mingyu considers bringing Wonwoo to the Gryffindor common room but a lot of Gryffindors have their vacant right now and might be in there. He doesn't want to create any unwanted rumors. Mingyu is known in Hogwarts as well as Wonwoo, bringing them together in one picture will cause the whole school a lot of mess. Just thinking about Wonwoo's admirers makes Mingyu shiver. He doesn't want to be anyone's target at the moment. 

“Shit, where do I go?” he mumbles. Then he looks at the boy he's carrying. Wonwoo's hair is disheveled and it actually makes him cuter. Mingyu doesn't understand how someone looks so good while unconscious. Then a place suddenly comes in his mind.

Mingyu scurries toward the blank wall at the end of the corridor. He walks back and forth thinking about a room with a comfortable bed and a couch. He also thinks of food but he knows there will be no such thing. When the door appears, he quickly goes inside, carefully not to hit Wonwoo.

The room the Room of Requirement gives them is similar to Mingyu's bedroom back home. He must be subconsciously thinking about it while requesting a room. The bed is bigger than Mingyu's but it has the same color and design. Just like what he had requested, there’s a couch at the end of the bed. It looks like the one in Gryffindor common room. Mingyu hopes it’s not as worn out and smelly as the one in the common room.

Mingyu settles Wonwoo down on the bed and he finds it the fluffiest bed than all the beds he has ever used. He wishes his bed in the dorms is just like this. If not only for Wonwoo, he would have jumped on the bed like a kid. Then he sits down beside Wonwoo.

Wonwoo’s eyes are bloodshot and Mingyu wonders why. Mingyu’s sure that the older boy is crying but why? Wonwoo always has this neutral expression on his face but Mingyu has seen him smile. If only Mingyu can put a smile on Wonwoo’s face, he would always do it. But Mingyu realizes he has never seen or heard Wonwoo laugh, he has heard him chuckle but never laugh. Mingyu’s pretty sure Wonwoo’s laugh is as beautiful as his smile—as him.

Mingyu averts his eyes from the sleeping Wonwoo. “God, I feel like a creep.”

Mingyu goes to the couch and lies down. He finds it as soft as the bed and he thanks whoever made the Room of Requirement. He stares at the high ceiling of the room, feeling the sleepiness creep into his body. His eyes feel heavy and he blinks multiple times. He sits up and checks on Wonwoo. Maybe he should bring the boy to the Hospital Wing, maybe it's more than just fainting. After several negative scenarios in his head, he decides to bring Wonwoo to the Hospital Wing.

He approaches the bed and is about to carry Wonwoo when Mingyu hears him groan. Mingyu watches if Wonwoo is about to wake up and for about a minute nothing happens so he continues. But Wonwoo starts to thrash around and whimper that makes Mingyu jerk back. He stares at the boy in front of him in shock, panic and horror seeping through him.

Reality hits Mingyu and he jumps to the bed, grabbing Wonwoo. He shakes him. “Wonwoo! Wonwoo!”

After waking the boy for a few minutes, Wonwoo sits up, finally awake. “Jisoo,” he gasps.

Mingyu becomes confused. Jisoo? As in Hong Jisoo the seventh year Ravenclaw who is best friends with Choi Seungcheol? Why is Jisoo the first thing that comes out of Wonwoo's mouth when he wakes up? More questions keep coming into Mingyu's mind but no answer comes into his mind.

_Jisoo._

“Are you okay?” Mingyu asks, worried.

Wonwoo looks at him, his brow furrowed. “Where am I?” he asks, looking around the room.

“Uh, we're in the-the…”

“Room of Requirement,” Wonwoo finishes.

 “Yes,” Mingyu confirms. “So you really know about this?”

Wonwoo nods. “I'm not surprised that you know this. I mean, you're friends with Kwon Soonyoung.” He chuckles.

Mingyu laughs nervously. He doesn't really know what to feel about someone knowing Soonyoung's secrets since Mingyu will be the only culprit. Seungkwan and Seokmin would never tell anyone because it means getting themselves exposed too. “Yeah, how did you know about this place?” he asks.

“Jihoon,” Wonwoo answers.

“Jihoon?” Mingyu is once again confused. “How…?”

Wonwoo shrugs. “That boy likes to roam around the castle, that’s probably why.”

Mingyu nods. He contemplates about asking Wonwoo what happened to him but he slides it off. Wonwoo needs rest, everything can come later. “Um, you should rest. You must be tired,” he says to Wonwoo.

He’s about to stand up when Wonwoo reaches out and grabs his arm. “Uh, can you stay?” he asks. Wonwoo’s eyes are not bloodshot anymore but they are still watery. It feels like Wonwoo is making puppy eyes but the truth is his eyes are scared. Why? Why does he have to be scared of anything?

“Sure,” Mingyu says.

Wonwoo lies down and drapes the blanket over him. Mingyu stays sitting up beside him as awkward silence envelopes them. Mingyu never though that he’d have the chance to talk to Wonwoo let alone being in one bed with him. It’s not intimate but it’s too personal for two people as acquaintances.

“Y’know,” Wonwoo says, cutting the silence. “You and I are pretty much the same. Not quite but you know, similar.”

“What do you mean?”

Wonwoo looks at him then gives a small smile. “Nothing,” he says.

Mingyu stares at the older boy, baffled. He shrugs the whole thing off and asks, “Don’t you want me to get you to the Hospital Wing?”

“No need to. I’m fine now,” says Wonwoo. “Thank you, by the way. I really won’t know what would happen to me if you weren’t there.”

Wonwoo holds Mingyu’s hand and squeezes it before releasing it. And Mingyu freezes in his seat. He feels his cheeks getting warm and he looks away, pretending to look for something. He wants to scream his lungs out as he faces his back to Wonwoo. He bites his lip to stop him from squealing or anything.

“Mingyu?” Wonwoo calls him. “Are you okay? You sound like you’re choking or something.”

Mingyu immediately fixes his composure and takes a deep breath. He turns back around and pretends like he’s actually okay. “Y-yeah, I just thought I was going to…sneeze.” He prays to God that his lie comes out natural.

“Oh,” was all the older boy says.

There’s a silence between them as Wonwoo stares at Mingyu. Mingyu thinks that maybe there’s something funny about his face or maybe Wonwoo already knows what his effect on Mingyu is. It lasts for a few minutes until Mingyu can’t take it anymore. He suddenly stands up and steps away from the bed.

He doesn’t know what to do when Wonwoo’s face becomes disappointed—or maybe he’s just imagining that disappointment. He clears his throat. “Uh, I should go and give you some time to rest.”

“Where are you going?”

“To my next class,” he answers.

Wonwoo is about to sit up. “Let me come with you.”

Mingyu runs toward him. “No!” he protests. “You should rest.”

“But—”

“Why are you worrying about me?” Mingyu asks. “You should worry about yourself.”

Wonwoo sighs. “Can you just stay then? Please?”

Even Wonwoo’s eyes are pleading and he doesn’t really need those eyes to get Mingyu to say yes. Without saying anything, Mingyu sits down beside him. And under the dark ceiling, they are finally comfortable with the silence.


	10. IX

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mingyu learns some things he shouldn't. He becomes happy yet unsatisfied with things. And he gets cut off. A lot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi guys. i know this is such a late update but school is keeping me occupied :--( thank you sm for the reviews and kudos! ily'all.

When Mingyu wakes up, everything is dark. The air is cold and the bed feels empty. Mingyu gropes the other side of the bed to find it empty. Of course, it’s empty. Why wouldn’t it be? Wonwoo doesn’t need to stay and wait for Mingyu to wake up. Mingyu doesn’t know why he really expected to wake up beside Wonwoo and maybe hear the older boy’s raspy voice and see his morning hair.

Mingyu sits up with a sigh and holds up his wand. “ _Lumos._ "

The sudden light from his wand blinds him for a moment until his eyes adjust to the brightness. The room looks plain and lifeless in the dim light. Mingyu finds it creepy and leaves the room as fast as he can.

* * *

Mingyu knows that everything will still be the same. He’s still the clumsy but not-so-clumsy Gryffindor Chaser who loves ordinary and magical creatures. Wonwoo is still the quiet famous Slytherin Beater who happens to be Mingyu’s crush. And most importantly, they’re still not friends.

The next day he doesn’t see Wonwoo and he is eternally grateful because he feels so awkward. Although he finds himself observing everyone, looking for Wonwoo. He spots Junhui, nagging poor Minghao again; Jihoon is quiet and alone as usual—Mingyu can see the longing look that his best friend gives to the Slytherin boy. But there’s not a single sign of Wonwoo, and Mingyu is confused if he’s happy or worried.

After Potions, Soonyoung keeps glancing at him as if sensing that there’s something bugging him but the older boy doesn’t ask. Even Seokmin gives Mingyu a confused look when he and Soonyoung meet the Hufflepuff outside the Great Hall that afternoon.

“Are you okay, Mingyu?” Seokmin asks.

“Huh?” Mingyu tries to tear his gaze away from the Great Hall but fails. “Y-yeah?”

Seokmin and Soonyoung’s faces are confused. “Is that a question or…?”

“What?” he asks again, now focusing his eyes to the two boys. “I mean, yeah. Yeah.”

“Okay,” says Seokmin, a bit unsure. “Anyway, Soonyoung and I will study Charms, wanna come?”

“Uh, I’m gonna study Potions, you guys can go ahead,” he declines. “Thanks for the invitation though.”

“Okay!” Seokmin chirps. “You can find us at the Gryffindor common room if you wanna join us. I think Seungkwan will join us too. The more, the merrier, right?”

The Hufflepuff turns around and walks away, completely missing the questioning look Mingyu gives to Soonyoung. Soonyoung makes a face as if telling Mingyu to be quiet. Mingyu chuckles as he watches his two friends walk away.

When the two are out of sight, Mingyu sighs. He thinks he’s going crazy, his eyes always roaming around even for the slightest hint of Wonwoo but there’s none. He sighs again. He doesn’t plan on studying Potions but he decides to go to the library, the perfect place to find peace even if reading books gives him headaches.

There are quite a lot of students in the library. Groans and complains are heard as he pass by the shelves. It is said that fifth years will have a long examination on Arithmancy and Mingyu finds their current state very relatable. He’s not bad at Arithmancy but he hates it. Potions can’t even compare to Arithmancy when it comes to making his life stressful. He doesn’t really remember signing for that subject up in fourth year.

Mingyu finds a table at one corner of the library and brings out a book. Two empty tables away, he sees two familiar faces: Choi Hansol and Lee Chan, who are both fifth years. Mingyu remembers them because Hansol is the Keeper for Hufflepuff and Chan is a Ravenclaw Chaser. He guesses that they’re here to study for the Arithmancy test for the look on their faces—Hansol looks like he’s panicking. Mingyu chuckles silently because he thinks fourth year Mingyu would relate to Hansol very much.

“Where the hell is Seungkwan?” asks Chan.

“I don’t know,” Hansol says. “He said he’ll follow shortly.”

Chan groans. “He’s supposed to be here thirty minutes ago!”

“Will you be quiet?” Hansol says and looks around. Mingyu pretends that he’s reading his books. He knows he shouldn’t be listening but these kids’ voices are just damn too loud. Anyone nearby can hear their conversation but it happens that Mingyu is the only person nearby. “Don’t you think he’s with Seokmin again?”

Mingyu sees Chan rolling his eyes. “I’ve told you many times Seokmin is not Seungkwan’s type.”

“Shut up,” Hansol hisses. “I wasn’t implying _that_.”

Chan chuckles. “Yeah, whatever you say, Hansol.”

Mingyu realizes that this is Seungkwan’s secret, the one that Soonyoung threatened to send—or at least, it has something to do with Hansol. He feels kind of bad for knowing something he shouldn’t accidentally. Mingyu is about to close his book and switch to another table when he sees Jisoo approaching. He sits back down and pretends he’s reading again.

“Hey, Chan!” Jisoo greets. “I thought I might find you here.”

“Hey, Jisoo! Is there something you need?” Chan asks.

Jisoo sits down beside Chan and brings out a book. “Seungkwan asked me to review you guys for the Arithmancy exam.”

“But we asked Seungkwan to teach us,” says Hansol. “Why did he send you?”

“Ah, the poor boy is sick,” answers Jisoo. “He fainted earlier but he’s at the Hospital Wing now.”

Hansol stands up quickly. “I gotta go. Don’t worry, I’ll be back quickly!” And he dashes away.

“Okay,” Jisoo says. “Wait, I think I brought the wrong book. Chan, can you get one for me? It seems like you didn’t bring yours too.”

Chan scratches his head and laughs. “I forgot.”

Jisoo shakes his head. “Just go get the book, you lazy ass.”

When Chan leaves, Jisoo looks around. Mingyu tries his best not to be noticed but he’s the only other person there so he does get noticed.

“Mingyu?” Jisoo calls him. “I didn’t see you there.”

“Oh, y-yeah, Jisoo?” he says, trying to sound surprised.

“Do you know where Seungcheol is? I’ve been looking for him.”

Mingyu shakes his head. “I don’t know,” he says truthfully. “I didn’t see him this morning. Sorry.”

Jisoo nods understandingly. “It’s okay, thanks."

Mingyu smiles and he feels like he looks constipated. Mingyu knows that they both feel the awkwardness. The awkward silence is practically screaming at them, it makes him deaf. Less than a minute, he can’t keep his mouth shut. “Jisoo?”

“Yes?” Jisoo says.

“Um, uh, are you—are you and Wonwoo close?” Mingyu wants to punch himself but he bites his lips in nervousness instead.

Jisoo gives him a weird look. “No. I believe we even haven’t talked. Why?”

“Nothing,” he answers. He stands up and packs all his things. “I need to go.”

“Oh, okay,” says Jisoo. “It’s nice to see you.”

Mingyu smiles and rushes off as Chan comes with two books. “Which one is it, Jisoo?”

“For fuck’s sake, Chan. Do you even study at all?”

“I hate Arithmancy!”

* * *

Mingyu doesn’t know where his feet are taking him. He decided to go for a long walk after he couldn’t find Wonwoo anywhere in the castle. He suspects that Wonwoo is hiding in the Slytherin Dungeon but Mingyu won’t take the risk of asking Slytherins even if it’s Junhui or Jihoon. He stops walking and finds himself near the Gatekeeper’s hut, almost at the forbidden forest. He sits on large rock with a sigh. 

Mingyu is very well not certain what he’s going to do about his newfound information. He went to find Wonwoo earlier but he doesn’t know for what reason. He knows that he shouldn’t even mention this new information to Wonwoo. He only knows about _that_ Jisoo because Wonwoo is half awake. Mingyu feels that Wonwoo would never tell who Jisoo is to anyone.

But who is Jisoo?

Mingyu shakes his head with a groan. “Stop thinking about it!”

“About what?”

Mingyu stands up and turns around so fast that he falls on the ground. “Shit,” he mutters and looks up. He feels like his breathing stops and the temperature drops to negative. Wonwoo blinks at him and keeps patting the air beside him. Mingyu gives him a confused look, and Wonwoo realizes what he’s doing and drops his hand to his side. Mingyu stands up and removes the dirt on his robe. “H-hey, Wonwoo. Didn’t see you there. I was just thinking about, um, someone. Yeah, someone.”

Wonwoo nods. “You’re not falling in love with Sinclair again, aren’t you?” he asks.

Mingyu feels like he’s going to choke. “Aaron? No! Never again.”

“Good,” Wonwoo says. “He’s a piece of shit.”

Mingyu dismisses the fact that his cheeks are heating up. “I agree.” He notices that Wonwoo is wearing his uniform.

And he must be staring at it for too long for Wonwoo says, “I skipped classes today.”

“Oh,” is all Mingyu can say, and he looks at the ground, biting his lip.

“About yesterday,” Wonwoo says, making Mingyu looks up “I don’t think I’ve properly thank you and I left without saying anything or even a note.”

“It’s okay, Wonwoo,” he assures him. “You don’t—”

“Thank you,” Wonwoo cuts him. “I really appreciate it. You’re so kind to me.”

Mingyu smiles. “You’re welcome. I think everyone would do the same thing.”

“No.” Wonwoo shakes his head as he pats the air beside him once again. Then he sits at the large rock where Mingyu was sitting earlier. “Not at all.”

“What do you mean?” he asks, sitting on the ground.

“Let’s just say that this is not the first time that this happened,” Wonwoo says. “But you’re the only one who doesn’t have any clue what’s happening but still cared so much and helped me.”

“No offense to them but that’s real shitty thing to do,” says Mingyu.

Wonwoo chuckles. “I know right?” He takes a deep breath. “I wish everyone’s like you, Mingyu. You’re really _way_ different than I thought.”

“You’ve said that before, during the party. What do you mean?”

Wonwoo smiles and Mingyu just sits there, still in state of shock and confusion as the Slytherin stands up. He realizes that Wonwoo is walking back to castle so he hurries up and runs after him. “Wait! Wonwoo!”

Wonwoo turns around. “Yeah?”

“Uh…” Mingyu doesn’t get to say what he’s going to say as he notices something tiny descend slowly until it lands on Wonwoo’s nose and vanishes—or the proper term would be, melts. Mingyu looks around and holds his hands out. “It’s snowing,” he says with a huge smile, watching tiny ice crystals fall slowly from the sky. “It’s the first day of snow.”

Mingyu really loves when it snows in Hogwarts. At first, he didn’t know Hogwarts could be more magical than it already is. But when Mingyu experiences the first snow in Hogwarts, it feels like the magic in the castle doubled and it’s the best thing ever. His stay in the Muggle world can’t compare and he wishes that Muggles can experience this too.

“It’s beautiful,” Wonwoo says.

“I know—” Mingyu stops mid-sentence as he sees Wonwoo looking at him and not at the falling snowflakes.

“Weren’t you going to say something?” Wonwoo asks.

“Uh, right.” Mingyu clears his throat. “Do you want—”

“Wonwoo!” Both of them turn to find Junhui, standing twenty feet away, waving at Wonwoo. “You’re late now!”

Wonwoo waves back. Then he turns back around and asks, “Do I what?”

Mingyu shakes his head. “It’s not important, you guys can go ahead. This can wait.”

Wonwoo smiles again. “Thank you again, Mingyu. You’re a great friend.”

Mingyu watches as Wonwoo and Junhui retreat back to castle. Wonwoo called him a “great friend” and Mingyu doesn’t know if he’s truly happy or truly devastated. Happy because Wonwoo called him a great friend despite the fact that they’ve only interacted with each other a couple of times. Them not being friends was one of Mingyu’s many problems and now here it is. Wonwoo said it himself and Mingyu can’t believe that this is happening. But he’s devastated, devastated for the fact that Wonwoo might only see him as a friend for the rest of their years in Hogwarts.

“God, what do I even do?”


	11. X

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kim Mingyu. Jeon Wonwoo. Aaron Sinclair. It's a bad combination. And he and Soonyoung are going to be the topic for gossips this week.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so wow, i finally updated after, what, a month? as y'all know, it's because of school. but the good news is term break is approaching fast. i have presentations next week, and it's gonna be our finals week next, next week. and i promise to double update during the term break. maybe triple, if i'm lucky and not lazy. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE REVIEWS AND KUDOS! they really mean a lot to me <3
> 
> also sorry for the mistakes, this isn't edited.

Mingyu has always loved Christmas time since he’s a little boy. It’s very fun visiting his relatives because he gets to receive a lot of gifts—especially money from his relatives from his mother’s side. He remembers he received his first broomstick during Christmas, his father’s brother had given it to him. He really became into Quidditch after that. It sucks that when he became older, he received fewer gifts. He wishes that older kids and adults still receive a lot of gifts and money but he’s excited nonetheless. And he’s about to start the countdown.

The fire from the hearth is relaxing. It is only yesterday when it started snowing. As much as he loves the magic of snowing in Hogwarts, Mingyu hates the extreme cold. He feels like he’s going to freeze anytime soon. He purposely woke up early to get a good spot in the common room and be near to the fireplace. Although by 10 a.m., a lot have gone outside to play so Mingyu is having a good time alone. But that is until Seungkwan, Soonyoung, and Seokmin walk inside with mugs of hot cocoa in their hands.

“Where’d you get that?” Mingyu asks.

The three make themselves comfortable in the couch. “Specially made by the house-elves for us,” Seokmin boasts.

“Why would they make _you_ that?” Mingyu asks, confused.

Seungkwan gives him a “Bitch, what?” face as Soonyoung answers, “We help them clean the kitchens sometimes.”

“I didn’t know you’re capable of doing that,” he mumbles.

“We’re not monsters, Mingyu,” Seungkwan retorts.

“Anyway,” Soonyoung cuts in before Mingyu can retort back. “It’s gonna be lunch time in 30 minutes. Let’s go down, yeah?”

They’re about to stand up and leave when Seungkwan says, “Bup-bup-bup-bup, let’s finish this first.” He points at their mugs. “Everyone’s at the Great Hall and we don’t want people to get suspicious now, don’t we?”

“Good idea,” Soonyoung says.

“You’re such a genius, Boo,” says Seokmin. Seungkwan makes a face as if telling: I know right?

When they finish their hot cocoa, Soonyoung shrinks the mugs and puts it in his pockets.

The Great Hall is already full of people when they get there. Mingyu can’t decipher any words because a lot of people are talking at the same time. The four of them sit down at the Gryffindor table despite the other two being from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw.

“I think there’s an announcement,” says Seokmin.

“Oh,” Seungkwan says, staring at the table. “It’s about the first Hogsmeade visit! How could I forget?”

“Hogsmeade visit…” Mingyu mutters. “Who are you guys going with?”

Seokmin and Soonyoung’s eyes turn to Seungkwan. “What?” Seungkwan asks. “I’m going alone…or with you if you don’t have any dates.”

“ _Alone_ ,” Soonyoung mocks which earns him a hysterical laugh from Seokmin and a murderous glare from Seungkwan.

“What about you, Seokmin?” asks Mingyu.

Seokmin shrugs. “Probably with these two idiots,” he says pointing at Soonyoung and Seungkwan. “If they don’t _really_ have dates, that is.”

“Pfft,” says Soonyoung. “I guarantee you guys that I don’t have a date.”

“You always have a date though,” Mingyu points out. Every year Soonyoung always has a date. And it seems like his dates are different for every Hogsmeade visit. That boy really likes to flirt around, Mingyu wonders if Soonyoung can be serious in a relationship someday.

“This year’s different, Mingyu,” the enthusiastic boy says proudly. “I don’t have a—”

“Soonyoung.”

Mingyu sees his best friend’s eyes widen, his mouth agape. The voice is a bit familiar to him and when he turns around, he finds Lee Jihoon standing in front of him. At first, Jihoon looks a lost third year or second year, Mingyu almost laughed but the Slytherin’s stoic face makes him choke back that laugh.

“J-Jihoon,” Soonyoung stammers.

A lot of people are watching them and Mingyu knows it’s not because of him but he stills lowers his head. He feels like they are watching him too. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Wonwoo looking at him —or at Jihoon—from the Slytherin table, Mingyu only wants to assume. He gives a small smile nonetheless, and he doesn’t know if he imagines it or Wonwoo really gives back a small smile.

“I thought we were going together this weekend?” Jihoon asks.

Mingyu watches as Seungkwan and Seokmin turn their heads to Soonyoung, questions written all over their faces. Mingyu sees Soonyoung gulping as he scratches the back of his neck, beads of sweat are already visible on his temples. “O-of course, we a-are. I just forgot.” Soonyoung chuckles nervously.

Jihoon’s eyes squint then he says, “Next time you’re asking someone on a date, don’t forget it. It’s offending.” He turns away and walks away like everyone in the Great Hall isn’t watching them with mouths open.

“Whoa. That was intense,” Mingyu says, a grin forming on his face.

“Soonyoung! Why didn’t you tell us?” Seokmin asks, punching Soonyoung’s arm playfully. “I couldn’t believe this!” He laughs.

“Really, Soonyoung?” asks Seungkwan, still not believing what happened. “I didn’t know Jihoon would even look at you!” The three burst in laughter.

“Oh, shut up, you gits,” says Soonyoung.

Seokmin puts an arm around Soonyoung, and Mingyu doesn’t miss how Soonyoung flinches lightly and his cheeks turn a bit pink. “Don’t worry, Soonyoung. I’m pretty sure Jihoon likes you already.”

Soonyoung laughs nervously looking at Mingyu, his eyes look like they’re asking for help. “Yeah, maybe.”

Mingyu only shakes his head at the fact that his best friend is in deep shit.

The announcement by the Headmistress seems to last for an hour even though it’s just less than 10 minutes, really. But Mingyu is so hungry that when the plates of food appear on the table, he starts to dig in within less than a second. Seokmin laughs because of that and Mingyu thinks that the Hufflepuff isn’t any better. Seokmin eats like he can finish the whole table but Mingyu is too hungry to retort that.

He feels he’s going to be full for the next few days after he finishes eating. Mingyu doesn’t know when his three friends left him but he realizes just now that they’re gone, and he’s alone. He sighs and finishes his grape juice. He’s pretty sure they’re on about some kind of business that will get them to trouble, Mingyu doesn’t want that anyway.

Mingyu feels a tap on his shoulder, expecting anyone but Aaron. But when he looks at the person, his stomach clenches because it is Aaron Sinclair. Mingyu gives the Ravenclaw a glare then he squints his eyes suspiciously.

“What?” he asks.

Aaron scratches the back of his necks. “H-hey. Can I talk to you?”

Mingyu looks at the other students and no one seems to pay them any attention. Good. Mingyu doesn’t want attention. “What for?” he asks just for the sake of being polite but honestly, he doesn’t want to talk to Aaron even if it’s important.

“Please?” Aaron says. “This won’t last long, I promise. I just want to tell you something. And maybe also apologize for everything.”

The word “apologize” catches Mingyu’s attention. He thinks about for a moment. “Okay,” he says and does a gesture to Aaron. “Talk.”

Aaron looks around the Great Hall. “Can we not do it here?”

Mingyu rolls his eyes. “Where do you want to talk then?”

“Outside. Is it okay?”

Mingyu doesn’t have any choice but to nod.

As they leave the Great Hall, Mingyu takes a glance at the Slytherin table where a spectacled boy should be sitting but he finds the seat empty. Wonwoo is probably busy doing God knows what. Mingyu shouldn’t expect him to pull off a Jihoon to him. They just became friends, dates are definitely not a part of being just friends.

“Are you okay?” asks Aaron, looking at him.

“Yeah,” Mingyu answers, shrugging it off.

He’s glad Aaron doesn’t talk until they stop at the lake. It’s surprisingly empty today, given the fact that it’s the weekend. Mingyu looks at the calm lake. Sometimes, it still astonishes him that the lake doesn’t get frozen but he remembers the fact that he is going to a school of witchcraft and wizardry, he should get used to this.

He turns to Aaron. “Now what?”

Aaron clears his throat. “Look, I just want to apologize for everything that I did.”

Mingyu waits for a moment. “That’s it?”

“N-no, no,” Aaron stammers. “I know I may have been a jerk to you,” Mingyu scoffs, “and I-I’m very sorry for all I did, for making you feel worthless, for cheating on you, for not seeing that you’re the best boyfriend and I let you go easily. Just so you know, I would never forgive myself for letting go of you, and if I could bring back the time, I would change everything. I would treat you better. And I’m so sorry that even after we ended, I held a grudge on you even if everything is my fault. I just couldn’t accept the fact that I was so fucking dumb and stupid. It was wrong for me to direct my anger for myself to you.” Aaron takes a deep breath. “And if your heart is still open for me, I would do everything to right all my wrongs, Mingyu. Just give me a chance.” Aaron looks at the ground then back to him. “ _Please_.”

Mingyu’s eyes sting. His fists are clenched at his sides as he tries to shed no tears—he doesn’t know if it’s because of his anger or something else. He has promised himself to never cry again because of Aaron Sinclair. “Aaron—”

“ _Stupefy!_ ”

Mingyu watches with wide eyes as Aaron is thrown in the air and lands unconscious a few feet away from him. He finds Wonwoo behind him holding his wand. “Wonwoo, what are you doing?” he exclaims.

“This is a trap, Mingyu!”

Mingyu doesn’t get to reply as a flash of light passes by and hits the snow a foot away from him. Wonwoo grabs Mingyu’s hand and they both run as 7 Ravenclaw students, no doubt Aaron’s friends, chase them.

“What the hell is happening?”

“Just trust me, Mingyu!”

More spells are casted by the Ravenclaws and Mingyu is glad that Wonwoo is great in Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts or both of them are screwed by now. He very much wants to help but he left his wand in their dorm. He wants to hit his head. He should always bring his wand with him, that would be his new rule for himself.

They pass by a group of students which makes the Ravenclaws stop from sending spells. When the students are out of sight, the Ravenclaws continue hitting spells. Mingyu wishes someone would see them. Let the Headmistress see them.

Now, they’re going down toward the Gatekeeper’s hut. Mingyu can hear some of the Ravenclaws panting, and he is thankful that he’s used to Seungcheol’s Quidditch drills. He never thought that it would be a big help to things that are not related to Quidditch. And he never thought he would be thankful for Seungcheol’s murderous drills

Mingyu realizes that they’re running toward the Forbidden Forest. “Wonwoo! What are you doing?”

Wonwoo doesn’t say anything and just enters the forest. Because Wonwoo is still holding Mingyu’s hand, Mingyu doesn’t have any choice but to follow him. And the Ravenclaws are still following them. _Dammit_.

It’s hard to run in the forest when you’re technically being dragged. Mingyu almost hits his face to a tree every time. All the turns they’re doing is making him dizzy. Wonwoo leads him to another turn which leads to a clearing and they stop. Mingyu looks back to find the Ravenclaws out of sight but their footsteps and shouting tell them that they are near.

Mingyu looks back at Wonwoo who’s in the middle of the clearing holding nothing. “Hop in!” Wonwoo beckons him.

Mingyu is baffled. “Hop in what?”

Wonwoo doesn’t say anything and just grabs Mingyu and practically lifts him into the air, and Mingyu is sitting now on nothing. “ _What. The. Fuck._ ”

Wonwoo jumps and sits in front of him as the Ravenclaws near the clearing. “Hold tight, Mingyu!”

Mingyu wraps his arms around Wonwoo’s torso tightly as they fly up in the air, leaving the Ravenclaws behind, gawking.

* * *

 

All Quidditch players are probably used to the heights and flying but Mingyu definitely feels like he isn’t. But to defend himself, this is different. There isn’t green field below them, there’s only the almost unending dark forest.

And they’re sitting on an invisible thing that’s flying. He feels like he’s going to fall down soon.

It only has been a few minutes since they depart from the clearing and none of them has said a word. He thinks it’s silent because they’re both exhausted. Mingyu clears his throat and breaks the silence. “What is this, Wonwoo?”

“I’ll explain when we get down,” answers Wonwoo. “And we need to get down far away so they can’t follow us.”

“Why are they even doing this?” Mingyu groans. “I hate Aaron so much.”

“Hate Aaron so much, huh?” Wonwoo chuckles. “You almost said yes to his awful, scripted speech.”

“I wasn’t going to!” he protests.

“Your eyes told the opposite.”

Mingyu rolls his eyes. “You were behind me. How did you even see?”

Wonwoo doesn’t say anything.

Mingyu doesn’t know if he’s going to be angry or touched that Wonwoo cares so much. It’s a strange feeling. They’ve been only officially friends since yesterday, Mingyu doesn’t know how to response with all of this. This day is only halfway done and he’s already stressed about everything.

_His non-existent Hogsmeade date. Aaron’s confession. Wonwoo stupefying Aaron. Them being chased by Aaron’s friends. Flying on an invisible thing. Jeon Wonwoo._

It is all too much.

Without any warning, they come down to another clearing in full speed. Mingyu tightens his grip around Wonwoo’s torso. He catches a whiff of Wonwoo’s perfume—or maybe he doesn’t use one—and he smells _so_ good. Mingyu can’t help but to move his face closer to Wonwoo. He thinks he’s such a creep.

When they reach the ground, Wonwoo is the first one to come down. Then he reaches his arms toward Mingyu. Mingyu stares at him for a long while. “I can come down on my own, Wonwoo,” he says. He doesn’t really know if he can but it must be easy, right?

“No, you can’t,” Wonwoo says. 

With a huff, Mingyu reaches down and Wonwoo sets him down to the ground. Mingyu dusts his clothes off and looks at the place where their ride is supposed to be. Mingyu wants to reach it, feel the mysterious things that they just rode. He extends his arms then retracts them immediately. He spins around, facing Wonwoo.

“Can you explain what the hell is going on?” he demands, arms akimbo.

“Given that you’re the best in Care for Magical Creatures, I’m surprised you didn’t know what we just rode on,” Wonwoo drawls.

Mingyu thinks about it. An invisible creature that flies fast. He gasps as everything dawns on him. How can he be so dumb? “Where the bloody hell did you get a thestral?” he screeches.

Wonwoo chuckles at him in amusement. “It’s always been here in the forest. It’s my friend,” he answers.

Mingyu has known thestrals since he was a child. He’s fascinated by them and wants to see them. But to see one, you should have seen death first and completely accept and understand it. Mingyu doesn’t want to see death at all. And Wonwoo can see them, which means he has seen death. It makes Mingyu shudder. He doesn’t want to think about it.

“And the thing with Aaron?” he asks. “What do you mean it’s a trap?”

“I saw his friends waiting somewhere out of your sight. And I heard them being too excited to pay you back for what you—we did to Aaron.”

“What we did?” Mingyu is very confused.

“Remember that day when we punched him?”

“Seriously? Why is he so petty?” Mingyu stomps his feet like a child. His blood is boiling. “He deserves those punches!”

A small smile forms on Wonwoo’s face, then it disappears. “Just don’t go back to him.”

“Don’t worry,” he reassures Wonwoo. “I’d never. Whatever you saw in my eyes earlier, it was hatred. I’m pretty sure of it. Although, I still can’t understand how you saw my eyes when you were behind me.”

“You looked disappointed when I stunned him,” Wonwoo says.

Mingyu can’t decode the expression on Wonwoo’s face. “Why does it matter to you if I go back to him or not?”

Mingyu wants to hear something. But he knows he isn’t going to.

“You’re my friend, I want to protect you.”

He nods and forces a laugh. “I think it’s now the third time you rescued me from Aaron, I’m starting to think you’re my knight in shining armor.”

Mingyu doesn’t realize what he’s said until he saw Wonwoo chuckles. He wants to dig up a hole and hide there forever. “I can be, if you want,” Wonwoo says.

He scratches his head and laughs nervously. Then he suddenly shivers, and he hugs himself tightly. Wonwoo, who is clad in sweaters and a scarf, removes his scarf and places it around Mingyu’s neck.

“Better?” Wonwoo asks.

“Y-yeah.” Mingyu nods.

Wonwoo looks around. “We should go back to the castle. They’re probably gone.”

“Yeah, we should.”

They ride the threstal again but this time, Wonwoo lets him to be in front. He doesn’t know if Wonwoo notices that he shivers when Wonwoo puts his arms around his torso. He hopes he smells good today or it will be embarrassing.

The ride back to the first clearing seems to be faster. And the walk back to the castle seems to be longer than usual but Mingyu is fine with it. Actually, he’s more than fine with it. He wants to spend more time with Wonwoo.

As they enter the castle, the scene that welcomes them is pleasing to the eyes. Aaron’s friends are being dragged by the Gatekeeper toward the Headmistress. “These ones are in the Forbidden Forest, Professor.”

One of them spots Mingyu and Wonwoo. He points at both of them. “They were there too!”

The Gatekeeper and the Headmistress ignore him but the Headmistress looks at Mingyu for a long minute as if like she’s analyzing him. Mingyu and Wonwoo walk away from the scene as the Ravenclaws still try to make them in trouble. Finally, they’re taken away, probably to the Headmistress’ office.

“Wow, we’re safe,” Mingyu says.

“Yeah, we are.” Wonwoo stares at him. “I should go, Junhui and I have to go somewhere.”

“Sure,” Mingyu says. “I’m just gonna go back to the dorm.”

Wonwoo smiles. “It’s nice to see you today, Mingyu.”

Mingyu returns the smile with a big one. “You too, Wonwoo. Thank you very much for helping me today.”

With one last smile, Wonwoo walks away. Mingyu feels empty right after. He goes back to the Gryffindor tower, a bit slouched. When he enters the common room, everyone is staring at him. He’s a bit used to being looked at. When you’re the star player of your Quidditch team, you’ll always get the looks. But today it’s different, but Mingyu doesn’t have the energy to ask them what they’re looking at.

He’s lying down in his bed when he realizes that he’s still wearing Wonwoo’s scarf. Wonwoo’s Hogwarts scarf which has the color of his house. And Wonwoo’s house is Slytherin. That’s probably why everyone is looking at him as if he’s the headline of the news gossip. Mingyu groans as he knows he's going to be the main topic for the gossips today.


	12. XI

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungcheol may be or may be not a cockblocker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> READ FIRST: hi! so before continuing with the chapter, i just want y'all to know that our term break is gonna end tomorrow. lmao we only got 5 days including the weekends so you know, fuCK MY LIFE. anyways, i'm still gonna update tomorrow because i'm keeping my promise with that double update. 
> 
> AND I HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT! i'm gonna make a short story series. it's gonna be medieval fantasy and it won't just revolve around svt but also nct, blackpink, and day6. i'm starting to stan wanna one so maybe, i'll add them. (any park woojin stans here? and also woo jinyoung stans! hmu). will y'all be interested if i make that though?

“It really seems like you’re living a fairy tale life, Mingyu,” Soonyoung suddenly says as they walk toward their next class.

Mingyu gives his friend a weird look. “Oh no, we’re not going through this again.”

“But—”

Mingyu lets out a big sigh.

“—think about it. You’re like a damsel in distress and Wonwoo’s always there to save the day. Isn’t it a little bit suspicious that he’s always there to save you?”

The thought makes him scoff. “Don’t be ridiculous, Soonyoung. Just because it happened more than once doesn’t mean it can’t be coincidence.”

Soonyoung halts, making him halt too. “Didn’t you know the quote ‘Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, three times is a pattern.’?”

He rolls his eyes and continues to walk. “Where did you even get that?”

“You didn’t know it?” Soonyoung asks. “Seriously?”

Mingyu only shakes his head and sighs again. Ever since he told Soonyoung about what happened to him and Wonwoo last Saturday, Soonyoung doesn’t stop from talking about it. It seems like his best friend will talk about him and Wonwoo every chance he can get. It is kind of odd and it does make Mingyu wonder a little.

“Enough about me,” he says. “What about you, Soonyoung? It seems like you’re living a romance-drama life, eh? With all that love triangle and shit.”

Mingyu laughs as he receives a glare from his friend. “Shut the fuck up, Mingyu.”

He laughs once more as they finally reach the classroom.

Mingyu wants to cry. That’s the only thought in his head when their professor in Potions suddenly announces that they will have an exam today. He hasn’t study anything—hell, he doesn’t really read anything when it’s related to Potions. And based from Soonyoung’s whines, he hasn’t either.

Mingyu is so occupied lately that he hasn’t been focusing on his studies. A certain Slytherin has been occupying his mind since their last encounter with Aaron Sinclair, and that Slytherin is currently sitting behind Mingyu.

He’s sure that he’s going to take a remedial this year.

“I fucking hate this subject,” he hears Soonyoung mutter.

And Mingyu can’t agree more.

* * *

 

“I think I’ll repeat sixth year,” Mingyu says as soon as their professor dashes out of the room. 

Out of all the students in the room, he doesn’t expect Jeon Wonwoo to reply. “You? Failing?” Wonwoo snorts—Mingyu doesn’t know which surprises him more, Wonwoo talking to him in class or Wonwoo snorting. “I don’t think so.”

Mingyu catches the look on Soonyoung’s face. “I don’t know.” Mingyu shrugs. “Life can be unpredictable.”

Wonwoo only smiles and stares at him. Soonyoung takes this chance to butt in. “Yeah, it _is_ unpredictable, isn’t it Mingyu?”

He and Wonwoo turn their heads to Soonyoung. He’s about to tell Soonyoung to fuck off when he sees Jihoon walking toward them. He puts a hand on Soonyoung’s shoulder with a grin and says, “Yeah, it’s very unpredictable, right Soonyoung?”

“What—?”

“Hey, Soonyoung,” Jihoon says to Soonyoung, not acknowledging Mingyu, Wonwoo, and Junhui.

“H-hey, Jihoon,” Soonyoung greets nervously.

“We should talk,” Jihoon says, still looking only at Soonyoung.

Soonyoung gives a side glance to Mingyu. “Talk about what?” Mingyu can really tell that his friend is very nervous. Soonyoung sweats easily and there are already beads of sweat on his temple and neck.

Jihoon doesn't say anything and just jerks his head. Soonyoung doesn't have any choice but to stand up and follow the Slytherin out of the classroom. Mingyu feels bad for Soonyoung but knowing his idiot of a best friend, he probably deserves what Jihoon is going to say to him—may it be bad or not. But Mingyu is 80% sure that it's going to be bad news.

Mingyu looks back at the other two Slytherins and finds one of them staring at him. Wonwoo acts like it's everyday when someone finds him staring at them. Mingyu wonders if it's just because Wonwoo doesn't care or he's used to it. Junhui notices what was happening and clears his throat.

“I guess I need to go now too,” Junhui says as he stands up.

“W-what?” Mingyu stammers.

Junhui only winks at him as he struts out of the room. Mingyu then realizes that it's only him and Wonwoo in the room now. How come he didn't see everyone leaving?

“You have History of Magic next, right?” Wonwoo suddenly says.

“Um, yes. How did you know?”

“Remember that Room of Requirement incident? I mean that's probably the only reason why you were there,” Wonwoo explains.

Mingyu nods, remembering how they were in the same bed that day. He wants to pinch his arm to stop thinking about it. “How about you though?”

“I have Alchemy next.”

Mingyu's mouth agapes. He's been told that Alchemy is quite hard. Wonwoo must be really so smart. His admiration for Wonwoo grows more. “Wow,” he breathes.

Wonwoo smiles a bit, Mingyu feels his cheeks warming. “So, shall we go?”

The hallway is pretty much deserted. It's so quiet that they can definitely hear a pin drop. Mingyu finds it strange for he's used to hallways being always loud and packed with people. It seems like every time he enters the hallways, everyone disappears.

No one dares to talk or even hum. Mingyu finds it relaxing and disturbing at the same time. It's like it's awkward but it is also not. He feels like he's missing a chance to get to know Wonwoo more. So after a while, he decides to break the silence.

“Where's your room?” he asks Wonwoo.

“Back there in the dungeons,” Wonwoo answers casually.

Mingyu halts. “What? Then why are you—”

“I want to accompany you to your next class,” Wonwoo says. “Or unless you don't want me—”

Mingyu's brow furrows in confusion at the sudden stop of Wonwoo's sentence. “Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. Of course, I'm grateful for you to accompany me but aren't you gonna be late?” Wonwoo stays staring at nowhere. “Uh, Wonwoo?”

Without a word, Wonwoo pushes Mingyu into a dark room. Mingyu is about to protest when a hand clamps his mouth shut. He tries to wriggle out of Wonwoo's hold but the room is too small. Then he feels a warm breath on his neck. “Stay still,” Wonwoo whispers, his lips dangerously close to Mingyu's ear.

Mingyu tries not to think about the fact that he's probably in a broom cupboard with Wonwoo. And they're so close to each other that Mingyu can feel Wonwoo's body against him. He knows that the temperature is quite cold in the cupboard but he can feel the sweat running down his spine. He's a lot taller than Wonwoo but he feels like he's being dwarfed by the older boy. Wonwoo's breathing on his neck doesn't help the situation either. Mingyu bites his tongue to prevent himself from squealing. This is definitely not the situation he wants to be in—or maybe it actually is.

Before Mingyu's thoughts can wander off to other topics, he hears muffled voices which are very familiar.

“Oh, shut your cakehole, Aaron,” says the person. “We still need to clean all the cauldrons in the storage room and there are, may I inform you, tons of them. I'm not going to get detention again.”

“Yes,” another person says. “My parents almost killed me for getting a detention.”

“Whatever, cunts,” says the one with the most familiar voice.

The group of students continue their chattering as they're engaged in a new topic. It takes a while before the voices to fade until they no longer can be heard. Only then that Wonwoo removes his hand from Mingyu's lips, and Mingyu is definitely bathing in his own sweat now. He doesn't know if Wonwoo is in as bad state as him because of the darkness but he hopes he's not the only one suffering in this situation.

Mingyu sighs in relief, he doesn't know if it's because Aaron and his friends are no longer there or if it's because he can't feel Wonwoo's breathe on his neck anymore. “Aaron is planning something again?”

He feels Wonwoo shrug. “I guess. But now we know his friends won't be helping him.”

Mingyu nods. “Yeah, that's a good thing. What are they doing here anyway?”

“They're in Alchemy with me,” answers Wonwoo.

“What?”

“Yeah, like it or not, he's actually the top student in that class,” Wonwoo says, his tone dripping with equal parts disbelief and disappointment.

Mingyu scoffs. “I hate him!”

Wonwoo chuckles. “Cute.”

“What's cute?”

The door to the cupboard suddenly swings open. “Mingyu?”

Mingyu clambers out of the cupboard, ending up on his knees before standing up in a very ungracious way. His mind finally processes the three people standing in front of him with expressions that tell that they’re either amused or shocked.

“H-hey, Seungcheol,” Mingyu greets with a low voice. To say that he’s embarrassed is an understatement. And the fact that it’s not only Seungcheol who caught them but also Yoon Jeonghan and Hong Jisoo, Mingyu is more than embarrassed.

Seungcheol eyes Wonwoo who comes out of the cupboard like he doesn’t care about the situation. Wonwoo’s expression remains stoic even if the Head Boy is judging him very hard right now. Seungcheol furrows his brow. “It’s, um, quite a view we just saw, huh?” Mingyu lets his head down. Why does Seungcheol have to say that?

“We were doing nothing,” Mingyu says in defense.

The seventh year Slytherin cocks his head to the side. “Sure, it’s just nothing,” he says. “I mean, yeah, being in a cupboard and all sweaty is doing nothing, alright. By the way, nice fish catch, Wonwoo.”

Seungcheol gives Jeonghan a weird look before smacking his arm. “You’re not helping, Jeonghan,” he says but the Slytherin just shrugs with a big grin. Seungcheol turns to Mingyu and Wonwoo. “Look, whatever you’re trying to explain, I believe it. But I still have to deduct points, and since I can’t deduct from other houses, it will be just our house.”

“Or you don’t have to,” Jeonghan butts in. “No one has to know that this happened. C’mon it’s your house, Seungcheol. You don’t want to lose to Slytherins now, do you?”

This time, it’s Jisoo who smacks Jeonghan’s arm. “Can you behave for once?”

Jeonghan rolls his eyes.

Mingyu sighs, his shoulders sagging. “Fine, deduct points.”

“10 points from Gryffindor,” Seungcheol finally says, his tone a bit forced. Mingyu sighs once again. He’s not used to being the reason for points getting deducted, he’s been always one of the reasons why Gryffindor earn points. “Mingyu, you have History of Magic next, right? Where’s your next class, Wonwoo?”

“Alchemy,” Wonwoo answers. Mingyu can’t tell how Wonwoo feels about what’s happening. The sixth year Slytherin still doesn’t show any change of expression.

“Isn’t it back there in the dungeons?” Seungcheol asks.

“Oh, c’mon, Seungcheol!” Jeonghan whines. “Mingyu’s a big boy now, he doesn’t need your fatherly protection. Everybody hates a cockblock.”

The look that Seungcheol gives his best friend is deadly. Finally, Jisoo decides to take care of the situation and holds Jeonghan by the arm. “Okay, it’s time for us to go!” Then the Ravenclaw looks at Seungcheol. “But seriously, Cheol, just because you haven’t gotten laid in months doesn’t mean you can be a cockblocker.”

Before Seungcheol can smack his best friends, the two run away to the dungeons, laughing. “Ah, these kids.” Seungcheol shakes his head.

“Sometimes, I wonder if you’re supposed to be our older brother or father,” Mingyu blurts out.

Seungcheol points a finger at him. “Hey, watch your mouth.” Then he pays attention to Wonwoo once more. “Now, go to your class. Luckily, I can’t deduct points to your house.”

Wonwoo nods and looks at Mingyu before walking away, back to the dungeons where his class is probably starting now. Mingyu watches his back until he can’t see anymore. He’s not even going to deny the fact that he already misses Wonwoo’s warmth.

The Head Boy smacks his head. “Ow!” Mingyu exclaims. “What was that for?”

“You were looking at him like a lovesick puppy,” Seungcheol says with disgust.

Mingyu rubs his head with a pout. “What’s your problem? You were okay with me being like this before.”

“That’s exactly my problem.” Seungcheol’s face becomes very serious. “You’re like that before and look where it got you. And that Sinclair kid is still bothering you.

“H-how did you know?”

“Everyone knows, Mingyu.”

Mingyu bits his lip. “But Wonwoo’s a good person.”

“I’m not saying he isn’t. Jeonghan has mentioned Wonwoo to us before, and he seems a very great person. But just make sure you’re not getting hurt again. Just be careful.” Seungcheol smiles as he puts a hand on Mingyu’s shoulder. “Now, go to your next class. I’m gonna follow Jeonghan and Jisoo to the Slytherin dungeon.”


	13. XII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mingyu and Soonyoung are the new stars of Hogwarts. And maybe Mingyu's first trip to Hogsmeade isn't very well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm so sorry for the delay. there was a blackout in our place and i didn't want to drain the battery of my laptop. because of that, i made this on my phone so i apologize for the mistakes.

He doesn't even know how it started but he has a feeling that Yoon Jeonghan and Hong Jisoo did it. They're the only ones present that time whom Mingyu doesn't trust. It's unlikely of Seungcheol to spread gossip especially that he's the Head Boy. And Wonwoo…well, Wonwoo wouldn't do that to himself.

The Great Hall is buzzing even if only a few people have vacant in this time of the day. Mingyu had tried doing his schoolwork in their dorm room but he couldn't concentrate. Even the library is quite full for some reason, and Mingyu had to bear with the unending whispers of other students. It feels like whenever he's passing by, he can see people looking at him and hear them talking. Mingyu is tired of it.

So the Great Hall is his last resort but it's still not comfortable for Mingyu. If only he can shut out everyone's voices. At the moment, he wants to have that Muggle thing which can be put in ears so you can hear music. Too bad they don't have those here in the wizarding world. It must be nice to not hear everyone talking and just listen to music.

The chattering grows louder and Mingyu already knows who they are talking about now. A pile of books drops to the table with a slam and an exhausted Soonyoung plops down beside him. Soonyoung bangs his head against the books with a groan. Mingyu tries to comfort his best friend by rubbing circles on his back.

“Why do people hate us, Mingyu?”

Mingyu sighs. “I have to finish this essay before tomorrow. But I can't focus right now,” he says, running his hand through his hair. “Have you finished yours yet?”

By the look on Soonyoung's face, he knows that his friend haven't started anything—and is far from starting anything, actually. If Mingyu's situation is bad then Soonyoung's is worse, maybe the worst. While the rumor concerning Mingyu is just him and Wonwoo allegedly making out in the broom cupboard, Soonyoung's is…more graphic. And there are actual witnesses. Although they only said that they heard it, they're still witnesses. It must be traumatizing for them if the rumors are really true.

But Mingyu knows what really happened. Even if everyone thinking that Soonyoung and Jihoon were shagging outside in the snowy field is hilarious, what actually happened was Jihoon was teaching Soonyoung a spell and Soonyoung, being a clumsy kid he is, used his trick wand that he was supposed to use on Seungkwan. The wand gave him a beating on his head and the sounds he emitted were misunderstood by other students. And when they were seen by students, Soonyoung was on his stomach and Jihoon was sitting on his back, although Jihoon was just really trying to stop the trick wand.

Soonyoung is still stressed about it because it's the first Hogsmeade visit tomorrow and his date might not happen, and he still has to finish his essay. It makes Mingyu think that his own situation is not bad at all.

“I don't think I ever will,” Soonyoung finally answers. “He hasn't talked to me in days. What am I going to do?”

“Go talk to him then,” says Mingyu.

Soonyoung groans. “But I don't even know where he is!”

“Well, if you care to attend any of your classes you'll know where Jihoon is.”

“But…” Soonyoung messes up his hair even more.

“Hey,” Mingyu says. “It's okay if you're not ready to talk to him yet. Give it a time. You've always wanted to be the center of attention and now here you are.”

“Oh, sod off,” Soonyoung says, shoving Mingyu.

Mingyu laughs and raises his hands. “I'm just kidding. He'll probably talk to you, just go talk to him first.”

“What if he doesn't?”

“I don't know Jihoon that much but I doubt he won't,” he says. “He doesn't look like that type of person who avoids his own problem until it vanishes.”

Soonyoung looks at him. “Are you talking about me?”

“Hey, I didn't say a name.”

Before Soonyoung can utter a word, two piles of books drop in front of them. “Hey, my lovely friends,” Seungkwan greets as he sits down.

“Hey, what now?” Soonyoung is baffled.

“Seungkwan's just happy because that Hansol kid asked him out on a date tomorrow,” Seokmin explains.

Seungkwan glares at his friend. “Anyway, didn't know you'd be a bottom, Soonyoung. And a freaky one, doing it in public.”

If it isn't for Mingyu, Soonyoung will successfully choke the Ravenclaw. “I hate you, guys,” Soonyoung whines.

“Nah, you love us too much,” Seungkwan says with a laugh. Then the fifth year Ravenclaw leans in. “But a serious question, would you be a bottom for Lee Jihoon?”

Soonyoung smacks his friend's head. “Ah, seriously, this kid.”

Seokmin laughs. “Although, I won't deny that the rumor is funny.” Soonyoung glares at him too and Seungkwan smiles mockingly. “But am I really the only one who doesn't have a date tomorrow?”

“I don't,” Mingyu says.

Seokmin looks at him. “Nice joke.”

“What?” he asks. “I really don't have a date.”

“Wait. You mean Jeon Wonwoo hasn't asked you yet?” Seokmin asks, leaning in.

“Look, we're just friends,” Mingyu says in defense.

Seungkwan gives him a weird look. “Friends, my ass. Friends don't ‘hang out’ in a broom cupboard.”

Mingyu looks at Seungkwan unbelievingly and scoffs.

“Well,” Soonyoung starts. “I don't think my date will still continue tomorrow so…”

Mingyu doesn't miss the look on Seungkwan's face. It seems like Seokmin is really the only one who's oblivious to Soonyoung's affections for him. And clearly, just like Mingyu, Seungkwan doesn't also like Soonyoung's actions toward all of this. So Mingyu steps on Soonyoung's foot hard, making the latter stifle a groan. And it seems like Seokmin doesn't even notice it.

“Nah, I doubt it,” Seokmin says. “I'll just hang out with my other Hufflepuff friends. I think some of them don't have dates.”

Soonyoung nods curtly. And Seungkwan rolls his eyes as he shakes his head. Seokmin gives them all his bright smile, and Mingyu gives an awkward smile back. If only Seokmin knows what's going on. Or maybe it's better that he stays oblivious about everything.

Mingyu only hopes that tomorrow will be a nice day for all of them.

And maybe, God or whoever above has finally listened to Mingyu. Because his day starts normally, actually better than normal. Soonyoung doesn't wake him up and Soonyoung is terrible in waking people up, he becomes more annoying than he already is. The shower room isn't also full like he expected it to be so he doesn't have to wait for long to get in. And the best thing is the breakfast tastes better than usual. Mingyu doesn't know if he's imagining it or the houseelves know what's going on today. Nonetheless, he's contented about it.

Seungcheol doesn't fail to notice the bright demeanor of his best Chaser. The way he excitedly chews and swallows his food with a small smile like he's in a goddamn cloud nine really does scream that happy aura. Mingyu has been always bright but not this kind of bright, this is more of that Hufflepuff sixth year bright kind of type. Even Soonyoung, who can be as bright as a sunshine sometimes, gives his best friend a disgusting look.

“Are you okay, Mingyu?” Seungcheol asks when Mingyu chokes for the nth time on a mouthful of waffles. The Head Boy is afraid that the kid might die of choking right in front of him.

Mingyu looks up from his food after swallowing everything. “Never been better.”

He doesn't see the questioning look Seungcheol gives to Soonyoung. “You're going on a date, aren't you?”

“W-what?” Mingyu is flustered even though there's no reason to be flustered. “I don't but today is a really good day.”

Seungcheol nods slowly, clearly not convinced. “Really? Wonwoo didn't ask you out?”

“Why do you all say that?”

“Your relationship with Wonwoo doesn't really scream ‘friends’,” Soonyoung says. “Might as well nail a sign on your foreheads that says you like each other.”

Mingyu scoffs and shakes his head. “You're all getting delusional.”

Thankfully Mingyu enjoys the rest of his breakfast in peace. No more talks about dates, more talks about anyone's love life, more talks about Wonwoo.

He doesn't have any idea what Wonwoo will be doing or where he will be. And maybe that's a good idea because he knows he will just end up looking for Wonwoo, and stalking him. He likes (loves) being with Wonwoo but he hates bing talked about by other people. Only if they can just mind their own business then everything will be fine.

Soonyoung is the first one to leave the table, making up some shitty excuse when everyone knows that he didn't actually leave his wand in the dorms. (And Mingyu saw his wand protruding from the inside pocket of his jacket). It looks like Soonyoung's date with Jihoon continues. Then Seungcheol leaves, bidding him goodbye. Mingyu sees the Head Boy going to the Ravenclaw table.

When Mingyu finally finishes his breakfast, he exits the Great Hall. Seeing that the weather has gone colder, Mingyu groans which turns to a whine. He has forgotten to bring earmuffs and a scarf. Looking at the moving stairs, he groans once again as he doesn't have any choice but to go through there again.

Because a lot of people are already gone, the way up to the Gryffindor tower is fast. Even the common room is empty and so are the rooms. Everyone is excited to go out today. When he opens his drawer where his winter accessories will be, he freezes for a moment. Because staring back at him is not only his Gryffindor scarf but also Wonwoo's Slytherin scarf. He thought that the elves would bring it back to Wonwoo after he puts it in the laundry basket. Obviously, they didn't.

He contemplates for a moment. Of course, he shouldn't use Wonwoo's scarf. He should bring it back to Wonwoo today or maybe tomorrow. There's a lot of time. But then he brings the green scarf out and wraps it around his neck. He silently curses himself. He shouldn't be doing this, this is absurd. But a part of his mind is telling him something else. (“Wear it and give it back to Wonwoo when you see him today.”

He's not even certain if he will see Wonwoo today.

* * *

Hogsmeade is loud and busy today. Mingyu can see Hogwarts students in every direction he looks at. One of his favorite things about Hogwarts is the weekend visits to Hogsmeade. He had hoped that his family live here instead.

Not knowing what to do, he goes to Honeydukes. Which is a bit bad of an idea because there are a lot of people inside. But Mingyu still wants to buy cauldron cakes. It's been a long time since he ate one. As he joins the queue to pay, a guy, who he recognizes as a seventh year Hufflepuff, looks at his scarf and smirks.

Of course, he would receive looks for this. He immediately regrets a bit that he wore Wonwoo's scarf instead of his own. Only a bit because this is Wonwoo's scarf, wearing it makes him happy. After paying, he happily munches on one of the cauldron cakes he bought.

This is the first time he visited Hogsmeade alone. He's always with Soonyoung, Seungkwan, and Seokmin but most of the time, Soonyoung has a date. Sometimes, he's with Seungcheol but that rarely happens. And if the three aren't available, Mingyu would come with his other Gryffindor friends but he doesn't find it appealing for now.

Not knowing where to go next, Mingyu passes by the Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop. The said tea shop doesn't suit to Mingyu's liking. The gaudy decorations doesn't help to increase the romantic feeling but brings it down instead. Mingyu had set foot in the tea shop only once and that was when Soonyoung's date insisted that they meet there and so he was dragged there to accompany his poor friend since like Mingyu, Soonyoung hates the frilly place. So Mingyu is surprised to see Soonyoung's and Jihoon's silhouette inside.

Their silhouette is a bit dark but Mingyu is certain that it's them. From the shape of the hair and head, and the short frame of the other person, they are no doubt Soonyoung and Jihoon. Mingyu laughs loudly. He doesn't know which he find funny, if it's the possibility that Lee Jihoon chose the place or Soonyoung did. He shakes his head and leaves, not wanting to see more about their date.

Mingyu finds a bench at the side. He brushes the few piles of snow on top and sits down on the bench. He opens his other cauldron cake and sets down the remaining beside him.

He's on his last (fifth) cauldron cake when he sees two people halting in front of him. He looks up slowly and swallows the food in his mouth. Junhui is looking at him with amused eyes, a smirk forming on his face. The other Slytherin beside him remains expressionless but his eyes look jovial.

“Is that why you couldn't find your scarf?” Junhui asks Wonwoo, eyeing the scarf around Mingyu's neck.

“Um…” Mingyu looks at Wonwoo and loosens the scarf. “T-this isn't Wonwoo's.”

Junhui scrunches up his nose. “Yeah, sure. I suppose you got that from Lee Jihoon?” His voice is dripping with sarcasm.

Wonwoo lightly elbows Junhui. “Alright, I should get going,” Junhui grunts. “I need to meet Minghao.”

“I thought he didn't say yes to your date?” Wonwoo asks.

“He didn't,” Junhui answers nonchalantly. “But I know where he's going.”

That makes Junhui earn strange looks from Mingyu and Wonwoo. “You're even more desperate than I thought,” says Wonwoo.

Junhui flips off Wonwoo before jogging away.

“Wow,” Mingyu says. “He's so whipped for Minghao.”

Wonwoo chuckles. “Yeah, he's been talking nonstop about him.” Wonwoo puts his hands in his pockets. “Do you wanna talk a walk?”

And so Mingyu finds himself unexpectedly taking a walk with Wonwoo. Even if it's in his intention to bring back Wonwoo's scarf, he didn't really expect to meet him today. And maybe he's relieved to see Wonwoo with Junhui today and not some other student. He doesn't know what he would do if he comes across that situation.

He's about to remove the scarf when Wonwoo's hand stops him. “Don't, you'll get cold,” Wonwoo says. “And my scarf really suits you.”

Mingyu doesn't know what to say and he feels his cheeks get warm. He decides to talk about something else. “How's your week?” he asks.

“It's fine. How about yours?”

Mingyu hesitates. “Fine too.”

“You're getting bothered by the rumors, aren't you?” Wonwoo asks.

Mingyu takes a deep breath. “Yeah, a bit.” Wonwoo stares at him. “Okay, maybe more than a bit. I really don't like being talked about.”

“Since you're the star player of Gryffindor, I thought you're used to it by now.”

“I can live with the compliments, I kinda like them,” he says honestly. “But rumors about myself? I don't like it.”

“Who does?” Wonwoo says. “Stop stressing about it. They're just fooling themselves, y'know? They keep talking about it when they actually don't what happened.”

“Yeah, but still…”

Wonwoo looks at him again. “Just stop thinking about it. They'll forget it soon.”

“How come you're not bothered by them? The rumors, I mean?” Mingyu asks, curious.

“I am,” Wonwoo admits. “I just don't have the time to stress about it.”

Mingyu wonders if it's exaggeration.

When they stop walking, Mingyu realizes that they're in front of the Shrieking Shack. Mingyu has visited the abandoned house a few times with Soonyoung when they're in third year. Soonyoung, Seungkwan, and Seokmin had tried to get inside to no avail. For an old, abandoned house, it's durable enough to prevent break-ins.

“Do you believe that it's haunted?” Mingyu asks, referring to the Shrieking Shack.

Wonwoo shakes his head. “I don't think so.”

Mingyu hums in agreement. “It looks like it's just an abandoned house.”

“It probably is.”

The thick silence envelopes them. It's the kind of silence that makes Mingyu a big uncomfortable. He breathes deeply, gathering his courage. “I'm glad that we're friends,” he blurts out.

Wonwoo turns to him. A smile slowly creeps to his face. “I'm glad too, Mingyu.”

“Aw. If this isn't a lovely view.”

Mingyu and Wonwoo turns around, finding Aaron with his other three friends walking toward then. “Just leave us alone, Aaron,” says Mingyu with much annoyance.

Aaron laughs. “We're just here to enjoy the view,” he says, and his friends snicker.

Mingyu rolls his eyes and grabs Wonwoo's hand, who becomes even more quiet. “Let's get out of here, Wonwoo.”

“Watch out, Mingyu,” Aaron says. “You don't want to get too close with a murderer.”

Mingyu stops dead in his tracks. Even Aaron's friends' snickers falter. “What did you say?” Mingyu demands.

“Aaron, stop,” says one of the Ravenclaws and pulls Aaron back. “This is low, even for you.”

Mingyu points a finger at him. “Be careful of what you're saying, you don't know anything,” he hisses.

“It's you Mingyu who doesn't know what they're saying,” Aaron spits. “There are still a lot of things that you don't know. Try finding them out, they're really surprising.” He looks at Wonwoo with spite before turning back and walking away. His other three friends look at them, eyes apologizing before following Aaron.

“He's such a fucking dickhead,” Mingyu mutters. He freezes when he sees Wonwoo tearing up. “Wonwoo?”

Wonwoo looks at him, hands trembling. Mingyu grabs both of his hands, trying to stop it from shaking. His eyes are already red, and so much tears are streaming down his face. Mingyu pulls the older boy closer and hugs him tightly. Wonwoo buries his face in Mingyu's shoulder, sobbing. His voice becomes muffled when he cries out, “It wasn't my fault, Mingyu! It wasn't my fault!”

Mingyu doesn't know how to feel and he doesn't know what's going on. He feels like he's going to panic soon. But he hugs Wonwoo tightly and rubs his back. “It wasn't, Wonwoo. It wasn't.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you want, you can all follow me on twitter. @vjsenya !! i know i'm on a mess called got stan twt but i still post about kpop and i need more kpop mutuals (bc i don't use my kpop acc anymore).


	14. XIII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mingyu hates himself for being bad at comforting someone. Wonwoo blames his best friend. And maybe Mingyu is getting know Wonwoo more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> is anyone of you going to diamond edge in manila??? hmu!! 
> 
> btw, thank you sm for all these wonderful comments. i appreciate them a lot. THANK YOU!!

When Mingyu broke up with Aaron, Mingyu was a bit devastated. He doesn’t know what would happen to him if it weren’t for Soonyoung’s support and comfort. Mingyu is friends with pretty much everyone. He greets them when he sees them in the hallway, he talks to them, he catches up with them, but he doesn’t cry into their shoulder. He had only done it to Soonyoung—his only real best friend.

But Soonyoung has never cried. Mingyu can count on his one hand the times that Soonyoung became really sad, but he has never cried. Or maybe he had, and he just didn’t want to show it to Mingyu. Mingyu doubts it though. He’s best friends with Soonyoung for 6 years, they know everything about each other. (Even Seokmin and Seungkwan said that they had never seen Soonyoung cry). He’s too carefree like that.

And so Mingyu has no any idea how to comfort someone. Yes, he has seen people cry and other people comforting them. He has only said kind words to other people. It’s always him who cries into people’s shoulders, and now he has no idea how he will comfort Wonwoo.

If he wasn’t wearing a bunch of clothes today, he’s pretty sure he can feel his clothes getting wet by now. Wonwoo is still hugging him tightly like a child who’s been away from his parents for too long. Remembering what other people do, Mingyu rubs circles on Wonwoo’s back but hat only makes Wonwoo sob louder.

Mingyu feels like he’s going to panic. Comparing it to the situation before at the seventh floor corridor, this is harder. Wonwoo was unconscious back then so Mingyu all had to do was bring him to a place where he can lay Wonwoo down. But now Wonwoo is awake, and Mingyu feels like what he’s doing doesn’t bring any comfort at all.

“I’m so sorry,” Wonwoo suddenly cries, his voice a bit muffled.

“Hey now,” Mingyu says as he pats Wonwoo’s head. “It’s not your fault, okay? Aaron is such being an arrogant asshole again. I know you’re a good person, Wonwoo.”

Wonwoo looks up at him, making Mingyu realize that he’s far taller than Wonwoo. And Wonwoo’s face…it makes Mingyu’s heart break. Seeing him like this again, eyes red and swollen, lips trembling in fear or cold, eyes full of fear. Mingyu wants to protect him.

“What if he tells everyone?” Wonwoo’s voice is low.

“I’ll talk to him,” he reassures him. “Don’t worry.”

Wonwoo steps back away from him. He stares at Mingyu, his face full of too much emotion that it becomes unreadable, for too long that Mingyu finds it uncomfortable. Then Wonwoo turns around and runs away.

Mingyu is frozen in his place for a second, his mind processing what happened before running after Wonwoo. He’s very athletic and he has longer legs so he should be faster but Wonwoo is feet ahead of him. He calls out, “Wonwoo! Wait!”

The Slytherin doesn’t look back and keeps running. Mingyu uses his full speed and can almost reach Wonwoo until they enter a busy street. It is fortunate of him that he is very tall or else, he would lose Wonwoo easily in the crowd.

He bumps to a lot of people and he tries to apologize every single time while still keeping an eye out for Wonwoo. He grimaces internally when a man shouts at him for bumping into him. Mingyu only bows and apologizes but when he looks up, there are more people at the street. He can’t find Wonwoo, and he can’t recognize anyone familiar in the crowd. He mutters a curse.

He feels dizzy. A lot of people are passing by him and he’s looking at every direction, looking for Wonwoo. He wants to get out of there and breathe. The crowd makes him feel like he’s suffocating.

Then finally, he spots Wonwoo making his way through the crowd and turning to another street. Mingyu quickly follows him, shouting out excuses and apology to other people.

When he makes a turn at the dark, narrow street, he stops dead in his tracks. Junhui and Minghao are definitely doing something that shouldn’t be seen by the public. A Hufflepuff scarf that is certainly Minghao’s is discarded on the ground, and Minghao’s neck is peppered with fainted red marks. Minghao immediately grabs his scarf and wraps it around his neck, covering the marks. Mingyu clears his throat, trying to avoid the awkwardness of it all.

But aside Minghao and his reddening ears and cheeks, Junhui staring at them, a bit disappointed, and the awkwardness, Wonwoo is standing there, heaving. His fists are clenched at his side, and Mingyu can see that his ears are red, because of rage or cold weather, he doesn’t know.

Wonwoo makes long strides toward Junhui, then grabs the latter by the collar and slams him against the wall. Protests from Mingyu’s and Minghao’s mouths are heard but Wonwoo ignores them. Mingyu looks at the other street but no one pays attention to them, people are still busy with their own business.

“Hey, hey! Wonwoo!” a panicking Junhui shouts, trying to get out of Wonwoo’s grip. “What the bloody hell is going on, man? Let’s talk about this!”

Wonwoo moves Junhui away from the wall and shoves him back again. “Stop bullshitting me,” he says through gritted teeth. “You were the only one who knew!”

“Knew?” Junhui looks very much confused. “Knew what?”

Wonwoo’s face indicates that he wants to punch Junhui in the face but he doesn’t, and Mingyu is a bit relieved because of that. “Knew about what happened during third year.” Wonwoo’s voice is dangerously low.

Junhui then realizes what Wonwoo is angry about, and the he stops writhing and relaxes. Mingyu is not sure if it’s really pity that he sees in Junhui’s eyes but they do become softer, more understanding. “Wonwoo, I only suspected that the rumors are true,” he says. “I didn’t know what happened. But all I know is that you didn’t do anything. You’re innocent, Wonwoo.”

Wonwoo’s eyes become watery until the tears pour out. His fists loosen around Junhui’s collar and he steps back until his back hits the opposite wall. Mingyu’s heart clenches as he sees Wonwoo sliding down to the ground, breaking down again. Mingyu forces himself not to cry too.

Junhui turns to Mingyu. “What happened?”

“Aaron happened,” he answers. “He was accusing Wonwoo of being a—”

He can’t say it.

And he doesn’t need to say it for Junhui to understand.

“Wonwoo—”

Wonwoo’s sobs grow louder, and Junhui flinches away. “Wonwoo, c’mon, let’s go somewhere more private. I think people are hearing you now.”

Wonwoo ignores him and continues to sob loudly.

Mingyu can’t take it anymore. He sits beside Wonwoo and hugs him, trying to comfort him and make his crying stop. Seeing and hearing Wonwoo like this, it’s definitely one of the worst feelings. He doesn’t understand anything, and he doesn’t know what to do. All he wants is for Wonwoo to be happy, not like this. He doesn’t want Wonwoo to break apart.

Suddenly, Wonwoo slumps down against him. Mingyu looks up and sees Minghao pointing his wand at Wonwoo. “Sorry,” he says. “I don’t think he’s going to stop soon. And we need to move him somewhere comfortable.”

Mingyu nods before standing up and lifting the unconscious Wonwoo. It feels like that the Slytherin got lighter than when he had to carry Wonwoo to the Room of Requirement which felt like Wonwoo weighed a ton despite of his skinny appearance. Now, his appearance finally matched his weight. “Where should we go?” he asks.

“I think our dormitory is empty right now. We should go there,” says Junhui. 

“We should also avoid people as we go back,” Mingyu says. “Rumors are going to spread again when they see Wonwoo like this. And I don’t want him to suffer more.”

“I know the streets here where people don’t go much so maybe we can avoid them through those,” Minghao says.

Junhui nods. “Good. Let’s go.”

It is a difficult task to avoid people but the three manage. Only a few people see them and most of them are local villagers. It is fortunate of them that they don’t encounter any Hogwarts students.

A more difficult task would be going back to Hogwarts while carrying Wonwoo. Even though Wonwoo got lighter, the walk back to the castle is way too long. They would be exhausted midway.

“Should we just make him levitate?” Minghao then asks.

Without any other ideas in hand, Junhui says, “Yeah, I guess so.”

Minghao points his wand toward Wonwoo and within a second, Wonwoo is levitating. “You can already do nonverbal spells. That’s so impressive,” says Mingyu, quite astonished.

“I’ve been practicing,” Minghao replies.

The one hour walk back to the castle is luckily uneventful. The three are silent all the way to the castle. It is a good thing that all of them are Quidditch players therefore they’re used to this kind of thing or else, Mingyu can’t think that they can make it.

The castle looks deserted when they get inside, and most likely it actually is. Students won’t be back for a few more hours, and some of the professors are also in Hogsmeade. They make their way toward the Slytherin dungeon without any problem.

Junhui says the password and they enter the dimly lit dungeon. Mingyu shivers because of the cold. Junhui notices it and lights up the fireplace with his wand. Minghao sets Wonwoo down slowly on the couch. Junhui and Mingyu occupy the remaining armchairs with exasperated sighs coming out of their mouths.

“When will he wake?” asks Junhui.

Minghao shrugs. “Don’t know. It seems like he’s exhausted so maybe a little longer than usual,” he says. “Well, I should go now. I’m tired.”

Minghao’s and Junhui’s eyes meet for a long while, conversation left unsaid, before Minghao leaves the room with a nod to Mingyu. The common room is met with a deafening but relaxing silence.

Mingyu stares at the unconscious Wonwoo. He looks so peaceful sleeping and it’s ironic that his emotional state isn’t actually peaceful at all. He’s a train wreck, a huge train wreck. And Mingyu wants to fix him.

While awake, Wonwoo is a hard stone that is difficult to read except for his eyes and yet, those times are very rare. While sleeping, Wonwoo looks vulnerable. He’s just a sixth year, a defenseless sixth year that clearly wants to be happy and forget his problems. How can even Aaron think that Wonwoo is a… _murderer?_ It’s such a harsh accusation that shouldn’t be said at all. It was pathetic of Aaron.

“Are you okay, Mingyu?” Junhui asks.

He nods. “Yeah. I am.”

“Wonwoo is a very complex person,” Junhui tells him. “He’s not your typical hard-to-read and cold type of person. He’s really easy to read through his eyes. If you really know him, you’ll know that he wears his heart on his sleeves. Sometimes I think that he should be in Hufflepuff, that he’s only here because everyone in his family is a Slytherin.”

Mingyu’s heart clenches again. He wants to know more. He wants to know Wonwoo more, he doesn’t want to be that friend that only knows what’s obvious. He wants to know who Wonwoo really is. He needs to know the truth behind the cold sixth year Slytherin.

“What happened?” Mingyu asks, and Junhui knows that he’s not asking about the incident today.

“Honestly? I don’t know,” Junhui answers. “It’s very hard to determine what’s real or what’s not about it. I only heard the rumors because of my parents, and my family, we’ve never believed it. We know the Jeons well, and I’m best friends with Wonwoo, I know him. He would never hurt someone. And we all thought that the Miller’s made it all up. All these years I thought Eric was just shitting me until now that Wonwoo confirmed it.”

Mingyu’s stare might be turning to a glare for Junhui rolls his eyes at him. “Of course, I believe that Wonwoo is innocent. What do you think I am? I just thought that everything wasn’t real. That Wonwoo wasn’t there and Eric Miller just told us that Wonwoo was there because he’s jealous.”

“Jealous of what?” Mingyu questions.

“You should ask Wonwoo,” Junhui says. “I shouldn’t be even telling you these things. I have no idea if Wonwoo will open up to you considering that he never told me anyone about what really happened. Maybe he will. Maybe you’ll be the first one to know who Wonwoo really is. You’ll be a lucky git if he does, do you know that?”

Yes, Mingyu knows that.

“I wonder how Aaron knew about it,” says Mingyu.

Junhui sighs. “He probably went to ask people about Wonwoo. I’m pretty sure the Sinclair’s weren’t there when it happened,” he replies. “Did you know Wonwoo and I talked about you and Sinclair back then during fifth year? We never understood why you dated that little shit.”

“Right now? I had no idea why I ever did.”

“Wonwoo isn’t the type to keep enemies,” Junhui tells him. “When there’s a conflict between him and another person, he wants to resolve it as soon as possible but Sinclair is an exception. And that is still since second year.”

Mingyu chuckles. “Can you tell me more about Wonwoo?”

“What do you want to know?”

“Anything true,” Mingyu says.

“Well, he’s great in Astronomy. He loves that shit. He also loves reading books so you can find him at the library most of the time. He’s one of the kindest, if not the kindest, person that I ever met. He hugs a plushie when he sleeps until fourth year,” Mingyu smiles at the thought, “He’s very shy, if I didn’t talk to him at the train during first year, I doubt he’ll have any friends since he doesn’t talk first to anyone. Because of that and also because he’s a lightweight, he never went to parties.”

Mingyu lets all the information sink in. “Wait, never went to parties?”

Junhui nods. “The Gryffindor victory party against Slytherin? That was his first party ever.”

“Really?”

The Gryffindor victory party is one of the moments that Mingyu will forever cherish for it is the time when he and Wonwoo had an actual conversation. Mingyu wishes that he wasn’t drunk that time but he doubts he could talk to Wonwoo back then if he wasn’t drunk. So he’s a bit grateful for the firewhisky for giving him a lot of embarrassing courage that time.

“I think he just went because you asked him to.”

Mingyu turns to the Slytherin. “Me?”

“Yep.” Junhui nods. “When I asked him to go, he said that he doesn’t want to. I was forcing him to go but he wouldn’t give in. So I was so surprised when I saw him there. Then I learned that you invited him and I thought that maybe he went because of you. Because if not, then why did he go?”

“Maybe he just wants to?”

“Nah. It’s definitely because of you.”

Mingyu doesn’t know what to say. He can feel his heartbeat getting fast.

Wanting to change the subject, Mingyu says, “Shouldn’t we move him to his bed?”

“Yeah, we should,” Junhui agrees.

Mingyu casts the levitation charm and they carefully transfer Wonwoo to his bed in the dormitory. It's Mingyu’s first time in the Slytherin dormitory since he doesn’t have a close friend in Slytherin. It is similar to the Gryffindor dormitory except there are no windows and it is definitely colder. After setting Wonwoo down on his bed and tucking him in, Mingyu sits down on an empty bed.

Then Wonwoo begins to move, his eyes fluttering open. He looks up at Junhui.

“Hey,” says Junhui when Wonwoo’s eyes are completely open. “How are you?”

“Fine,” Wonwoo croaks out. “Where are we?”

“We’re back at the dorm,” Junhui answers. “We brought you back here.”

Wonwoo looks around the room, as if checking if his best friend is telling the truth. He freezes when his eyes land on Mingyu. Mingyu unknowingly hold his breath and releases it when he realizes that he can’t breathe. “Hey,” he mumbles.

“Hey,” Wonwoo says with a small smile.

“I guess it’s my cue to leave,” Junhui butts in. He turns to Wonwoo. “Get some rest, okay? We’ll deal with Sinclair when you’re ready.” With that, the two are alone in the room.

“I’m sorry,” says Wonwoo.

Mingyu furrows his brow. “Why the hell are you apologizing for?”

“For getting you caught up in this mess.”

Mingyu moves to Wonwoo’s bed and sits down beside him. “Don’t be sorry. It’s alright. Plus, I’d be glad to be caught in a thousand messes if it means that I can help you.”

He sees Wonwoo’s ears and cheeks getting red. He finds it very cute.

“Mingyu?”

“Hm?”

“Can you stay here?”

Mingyu tenses up. “Are you sure? What about the others?”

“I don’t care,” the Slytherin says. “And they probably won’t. Jihoon, Luis, and Pierre are mature enough.”

“Okay.”

As soon as Mingyu lies down, he feels Wonwoo’s warmth. Then Wonwoo also covers Mingyu with his blanket. And Mingyu has to control himself from grabbing it and smelling it because it smells so much like Wonwoo, and it’s so good. The bed is a bit small for them but anything is fine as long as he’s with Wonwoo.

“Mingyu?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m—”

“Innocent,” Mingyu finishes. “I know, you don’t have to clarify it. Go back to sleep. Like what Junhui said, we’ll deal with Sinclair soon. I promise.”

“I don’t deserve that but thank you.”

Mingyu looks at Wonwoo and finds the latter staring at him. “Don’t say that. You deserve the world, Wonwoo. You deserve everything.”

“I don’t deserve you, Mingyu. You’re too kind.”

_It’s you that I don’t deserve, Wonwoo._


	15. XIV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mingyu finds everything fast paced.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wowowowow 4k words guys!! shsdkmd. OKAY SO THIS IS DEDICATED TO NANA (bitch i love u) she suggested the sweater and i love it!!
> 
> I'M GONNA SEE SVT TODAY! I'M GONNA SEE THE LOML (AKA KWON SOONYOUNG) AGAIN DO Y'ALL MIND IF CRY AND SCREAM
> 
> i'm lower box b 203 so if anyone of u is the same section as me, hmu ig??
> 
> shameless promo: i just made yt acc for my edits (vjsenya) and i just changed my @ on twt, follow me @soonyougnsus if you want to talk about this fic or some stuff. don't be shy (even if i'm awkward as hell)

Mingyu stares at the green silks that hide them from the people in the room. It’s very dark but he can still see the faint house color of Slytherin. He doesn’t know who slid the silks close but he’s grateful for them. If he wakes up and sees the other Slytherin sixth years, he’d die of embarrassment. No, he’s not embarrassed to be seen with Wonwoo but to be seen in bed with Wonwoo, that’s entirely something else. 

Not that he doesn’t approve of the idea of being in bed with Wonwoo.

He shouldn’t be thinking about that when he’s actually in the same bed with the said boy.

He rolls around, facing Wonwoo. Looking at the older boy, Mingyu concludes that he loves staring at Wonwoo’s face especially when he’s sleeping because he looks peaceful. And he hopes he doesn’t look like a creep.

Mingyu doesn’t have any watch on him so he doesn’t know what time it is. The last thing that he remembers is that Wonwoo fell asleep before him, and Wonwoo unconsciously held on to his arm, hugging it. Mingyu had wondered if that’s what Wonwoo looks like when he’s hugging his plushie back in third year and below. Mingyu had smiled.

But now their positions are different. Wonwoo is still lying on his side, facing him but his arms are now wrapped around his body. Mingyu notices that the blanket had slid down to their waist so he brings it up back to Wonwoo’s torso. 

Mingyu’s hand slowly reaches out to the silk curtains, then he pulls it to the side with caution. He’s sure that it’s already evening but he doesn’t know if it’s early evening or not. He only wants to avoid attention.

Peeking outside, Mingyu sees that the room is as dark as inside the four-poster bed. _Good_ , he thinks. Everyone is asleep. He won’t have any trouble avoiding everyone. He slides out of the bed silently.

The bad thing is Mingyu is not familiar with the Slytherin dormitory. It’s pretty similar with the Gryffindor dormitory but of course everything isn’t where they supposed to be. Mingyu can’t even remember which way is to the door.

“Shit,” he mutters.

He creeps onto the floor, one arm stretched out to determine if he’s going to bump onto something. Mingyu never once thought that he’d get to sleep in the Slytherin dormitory let alone crawling around the said dorm, trying to sneak out. He must look like an idiot. He’s been looking like an idiot these days.

After what seems like an hour, Mingyu finds the door and gets out of the room quickly, tripping a little bit. He really hates how clumsy he is when in times like this. He hopes that there’s no light sleeper in the room.

The common room is less dark for the fireplace is still lit. Mingyu stops midway and looks around the common room. The couch and armchairs are empty. But the corners of the room are too dark, he feels like someone is hiding and when he’s in the middle of the room, that someone would come out and scare him to death. Mingyu bites his lip in nervousness.

“It’s midnight, Mingyu,” he says to himself. “Everyone is asleep. And you literally live and talk with ghosts every day, there’s nothing to be afraid of.”

He takes long strides across the room, looking straight ahead. It seems like if he turns his eyes somewhere, he would see something scary. “You’re a Gryffindor, right, Kim Mingyu? Then act like it.”

Mingyu releases the breath that he doesn’t know he’s holding when he comes out of the Slytherin Dungeon. Even though the temperature is very low, Mingyu can feel the beads of sweat running down his temple and back.

For a moment, Mingyu thinks that he has gone blind and he starts to panic. Then he remembers that there are no candles because the paintings sleep too. And they’re annoying when their sleep is disturbed. Soonyoung received a whole lecture from a painting once when they were sneaking out to get some food from the kitchen. Mingyu was afraid that the whole castle had heard the painting screeching, “KWON SOONYOUNG! IT’S YOU AGAIN!”

Soonyoung is really famous in Hogwarts. No one can deny that.

So Mingyu decides not to use his wand. Which, of course, is a difficult task. He stays near the wall so he has something that he can consider as a guide.

He knows that he’s already at the moving staircases when he hears the constant shuffling of the concrete staircases. He gulps, feeling his hands getting sweaty in nervousness. Even when it’s daylight, Kim Mingyu barely skips the trick stairs. And now, it’s very dark and Soonyoung isn’t there to point out all the trick stairs for him.

“Dammit, I should’ve never left.”

He thinks about the times Soonyoung sneaked out and never got caught, and the times they had a party and it felt like there were no professors or a caretaker in the castle. So he takes his wand out. “ _Lumos,_ ” he whispers.

The bright white light blinds him and he keeps it away from his face. It takes a moment for his eyes to adjust with the sudden light. If it weren’t for the humongous space of the Grand Staircase, the paintings would be blinded by the light and wake up. But fortunately, there aren’t any complains throughout the space yet, just loud snores.

“Okay, Mingyu,” he says to himself. “No one is here, you don’t have to worry.”

Mingyu takes a deep breath. Then he does what he normally does. And when he goes through the moving staircases normally, he always ends up being stuck on a trick staircase. And why did he have to do what he normally does again?

“Fuck! Why the bloody hell did Ravenclaw make this?” he hisses as his foot falls on a trick step.

“Who’s there?”

“Shit! _Nox!_ ”

The sudden darkness makes Mingyu shiver even though the caretaker’s lamp downstairs still gives off faint light. Those times he and Soonyoung sneaked out, and carelessly wander around the castle with their wands lit up, they never got caught. They never even came across the caretaker or hear his footsteps or his voice. Is it because Soonyoung is great in sneaking out or Mingyu is just really the embodiment of bad luck?

“I saw you, kid. Don’t try to hide now!”

“Oh, shut up, will you?” a painting complains.

Mingyu hears the caretaker sneer.

He looks down where the caretaker is and his heart beats faster. The staircase where he’s stuck is the only thing that’s keeping him separated from the caretaker, and if this moves, he’d be dead. Mingyu bits into his lip hard that he can taste something metallic.

“You don’t have to hide, kid. No one can hide from me.”

Mingyu feels like a monster is searching for him, not a caretaker.

Then he feels the movement of the staircase. He grabs the railing to steady himself. He looks back and finds the staircase is now connecting him to the platform where the caretaker is. And he’s sure that the caretaker can see his silhouette.

“Oh, look what we have—”

The caretaker stops midway as someone runs past him and stops in front of Mingyu. It is so fast that Mingyu doesn’t realize that the person just hauled him up from the trick step. He hears the caretaker shouting something but he doesn’t understand as his only focus is on Wonwoo, who’s telling him to run.

And so they run.

Wonwoo pulls him whenever he’s about to fall into another trick step. And fortunately, the movement of the staircases is with them so they have no trouble going to where they’re supposed to go. It couldn’t be said the same for the caretaker, who is now stuck on a platform as the staircase moves without him.

Despite of that, they still keep running until they’re in front of the door to the Gryffindor common room. Mingyu can feel the adrenaline rush subsiding as they catch up their breaths. Mingyu didn’t expect his life with Wonwoo in it to be full of running. Someone should’ve warned him for this so he’s a bit more prepared. But no one really expected that Wonwoo would be a part of his life.

Mingyu faces Wonwoo after he’s able to breathe normally again. “How did you know?” he asks. _Or maybe it’s just coincidence, Mingyu. Don’t look deeper into it._ But how is an incident in the middle of the night coincidence? Especially when Wonwoo was still sound asleep when Mingyu left the Slytherin Dungeon.

Wonwoo only looks at him, unable to answer. And he looks like he’s going to panic.

“Oh my God, no. You don’t have to answer, Wonwoo!” he says. “It must be nice to know everything but I don’t want you to tell me things just because you feel like you owe me. I want you to tell me things because you want to. It’s okay if you won’t tell yet or if you will never tell. I will respect your decisions no matter what.”

Wonwoo looks a bit relieved by that. “No, I want to tell you.”

Mingyu knows that there is a “but”. “Just tell me whenever you’re ready. No pressure,” he reassures the Slytherin.

“Why are you always thinking of me first?” Wonwoo asks.

It is a sudden question and Mingyu doesn’t know how to react. How does he even answer that kind of question? Why? Why is he always thinking of Wonwoo’s condition first? _Because you like him. Because you’re in_ love _with him_.

“Because you’re my friend and I care about you,” he blurts out.

 _Friend my ass_.

“Oh,” Wonwoo says. “What about yourself though? Aren’t you curious about what’s going on?”

“Of course, I am,” he answers. “There are so many things I want to know about you, Jeon Wonwoo. I want to know your favorite color, your favorite food, your favorite book, your dream, your happiest moment, your most embarrassing moment, how you think of everyone in Hogwarts, how you really laugh, there’s so many things I want to know about you. And I want to know who you really are.

“But right now isn’t the right time. I understand that. Don’t rush it, Wonwoo. We still have a lot of time in the world to get to know each other. Don’t worry.”

Looking at Wonwoo for a little longer, he notices that the boy isn’t wearing any shoes. Junhui must have removed them when they fell asleep. And there’s no way he’s going to let Wonwoo go back like that, especially now that he’s hugging himself and shivering.

“Wait, give me a minute,” he says.

Waking the Fat Lady is a little bit difficult which earns him a scolding from the painting and a snicker from Wonwoo. He runs inside as quietly as he can, going upstairs to their dormitory. It’s dark inside but he’s been living there for the past 6 years. He knows every nooks and crannies of the room.

He goes to his wardrobe and rummages through, not caring if he wakes the other up. Finally founding what he’s looking for, he doesn’t bother to clean his mess up. He runs outside and he finds Wonwoo still standing there.

Wonwoo gives him a small smile as he approaches the Slytherin. Then he says, “Blue.”

“H-huh?” he asks, taken aback.

“Blue,” Wonwoo repeats. “Blue is my favorite color.”

“Oh. Mine’s red,” Mingyu says. “I guess we’re kind of different, huh?”

Wonwoo chuckles. “You and I are actually the same, Mingyu. You just don’t know it yet.”

“What do you mean?” To say that Mingyu is both confused and curious is an understatement.

Wonwoo shakes his head. “Nothing,” he says.

“By the way,” Mingyu bites his lip for what seems like the upteempth time today, “it’s cold right now and you’re not even wearing any footwear. And you’re clearly shivering, I’m going to be guilty if I let you walk back in that state.” He hands out his sweater. “Take it also as a token of appreciation for saving me.”

Wonwoo takes the sweater uncertainly. “You shouldn’t bother—”

“Please, take it,” Mingyu insists. “And wear it, it’s very cold.”

Wonwoo looks at him. “Are you sure you just don’t want to see me in your sweater?” Mingyu chokes on his own spit. Wonwoo examines the sweater, his eyebrows raising. “Your Gryffindor sweater?”

“Aish,” Mingyu hisses as he rubs the back of his neck in embarrassment. He makes an attempt to get the sweater back but Wonwoo moves the sweater out of his reach. He pouts and looks at the ground. “Just give it back if you don’t want to. Don’t make fun of me.”

He hears Wonwoo chuckle. Mingyu feels like he’s burning. He really needs to stop being an idiot especially around Wonwoo. Then he hears shuffling and when he looks up, Wonwoo is already wearing his sweater. If it isn’t most beautiful thing he’s ever seen then he doesn’t know what is. And Wonwoo looks shy and Mingyu finds it to be the cutest thing in the world.

“Well, I should get going now,” Wonwoo says after a while.

Mingyu clears his throat. “Don’t get caught.”

“Don’t worry, Mingyu. I don’t get stuck in trick steps.” Wonwoo laughs. “And you can keep my scarf. It looks better on you anyway.”

Mingyu looks at the forgotten scarf around his neck and tries not to look embarrassed as he feels his ears and cheeks getting warm.

Although he just woke up and he knows he’ll only get a few hours of sleep again, Mingyu sleeps soundlessly. When the sun is up, he gets woken up by none other than Kwon Soonyoung, who shakes him relentlessly.

“Alright! Alright! I’m up,” he yells at the older boy.

“Good,” says Soonyoung. “We’re going to be late.”

“What?” Mingyu exclaims. “Why did you just wake me now?”

Soonyoung gives him a glare. “Bitch, I just woke up too. Now shut the bloody hell up and get dressed.”

Mingyu runs toward his wardrobe which is still messy from last night and grabs a uniform. After putting it on and fixing his hair, and by fixing it, it means running his hands through his hair, making it more disheveled.

“Don’t you really have personal hygiene?” Soonyoung looks at him and his wardrobe judgingly.

“Oh, shut up!” Mingyu flips him off. “Why are you so grumpy? Didn’t your date in Madam Puddifoot’s go well?”

Now it’s Soonyoung’s turn to flip him off. “Sod off, prick.”

Mingyu laughs loudly as his best friend gives him another deadly glare.

* * *

 

Mingyu really hates it when Soonyoung is in a grumpy mood. Not that he’s best friends isn’t allowed to have that kind of mood but maybe it’s for the best if he isn’t. It doesn’t look like it but Soonyoung is scary and intimidating when he is in a bad mood.

Like earlier, Soonyoung snapped at the random first year Gryffindor who asked them where she can find the office of the Headmistress. In their friendship of 6 years, this might be the first time that Mingyu sees his best friend this stressed and anxious.

“Goddammit, Soonyoung. Tell me what’s wrong?” Mingyu demands as they’re on their way to their last class before lunch. Soonyoung almost pulled his wand on the Ravenclaw who bumped into him.

“Nothing,” answers his best friend.

Mingyu rolls his eyes. “You do know that you have to tell me sooner or later, right? Let me help you, whatever it is.”

He sees his best friend’s expression loosening up. “I’ll tell you tonight.”

He nods understandingly at his best friend. This is not normal, and he hopes that Soonyoung is alright.

It’s lunch time when Mingyu’s worry starts to get worse because of Wonwoo’s absence the whole day. They have at least 3 periods together today but he still hasn’t seen the older boy. Junhui was busy earlier that’s why he didn’t had the chance to ask him the whereabouts of Wonwoo. But now, he is not, he’s just casually eating his lunch at the Slytherin table.

 _What happened to Wonwoo? Is he alright? How is he going to eat today? He didn’t feel that better yesterday. What if what Aaron said really affected him deeply?_ All he can think about is Wonwoo and his condition. Mingyu feels like he’s going through paranoia.

Mingyu decides to take the chance. He pats Soonyoung on the shoulder and goes to the Slytherin table. Normally, he would feel embarrassed because a lot of people are looking at him but right now, he doesn’t care. All his mind can think of is Wonwoo. _Wonwoo_.

“Junhui,” he says as he sits down beside the said boy.

“Hm?” Junhui turns to him. “Oh, hey, Mingyu. Have you tasted the pudding today? I don’t know what’s going on today but it’s better than usual.”

“Uh, no. Not yet,” Mingyu answers. “Anyway, have you seen Wonwoo?”

“Oh, yeah, of course,” Junhui says, rolling his eyes. “Why else would you be here if it weren’t for Wonwoo?”

Mingyu opens his mouth to retort but Junhui doesn’t let him.

“Wonwoo stayed at the dorm. He said he doesn’t feel good. Some bad headache, I think?” Junhui answers. “And he keeps hugging and sniffing that red sweater. It’s so fucking weird.” The Slytherin snorts.

The thought of Wonwoo hugging and sniffing his Gryffindor sweater flashes in Mingyu’s mind. And that might have made him blush for Junhui gives him a weird look. “I presume it’s yours? I mean, who else would it be?”

He’s about to answer when the Slytherin doesn’t let him again. “You know what, don’t answer that. You two disgust me.”

Mingyu smacks Junhui’s arm which earns him a bunch of curses in one sentence. He didn’t know that so much curse words could fit in one understandable sentence. He leaves the table before Junhui can get his revenge, and goes back to the Gryffindor table.

“Hey, I gotta go,” he says to Soonyoung.

“I thought we’re studying for the upcoming quiz on Charms?” Soonyoung asks.

“Maybe Mingyu is going to visit his boyfriend,” Seungcheol teases. “A lot of people are saying that they saw you two together during Hogsmeade visit.”

Soonyoung then gives him _that_ look which he hates, and the former even wriggles his eyebrows which only makes it worse. “Oh, yeah! You’ve been looking for him the whole day. You literally won’t shut up about him—Wait, you and Wonwoo went on a date yesterday? How come you didn’t tell me! Why did I have to learn it from others? Wait, is that why you came back to the dorm in the middle of the night? Did something happen between you two?”

“Shut up. Nothing happened.” Mingyu glares at his friend. “Maybe if you weren’t too busy being grumpy the whole day, I would’ve tell you everything.”

This gets Seungcheol’s interest. “Grumpy? What is going on?”

Soonyoung falls quiet. “Nothing.”

“See? You haven’t even told me yours yet,” Mingyu points out. “We’ll be even tonight so I’ll look forward to that. In the meantime, I gotta go.”

The way to the Slytherin Dungeon is fast since most of the students are in the Great Hall. When he reaches the door to the common room, he states the password which he heard from Junhui yesterday.

He expects it to be empty but there he is, Lee Jihoon. He’s lying down on the couch and his aura really tells that no one should come near him like he owns all the space within 5-meter radius. The small boy looks at Mingyu when he feels that he’s been staring at Jihoon for more than a minute.

“Wonwoo’s in there,” is the only thing that Jihoon says.

Mingyu doesn’t say anything walks toward the dorm room. He stops in front of the door. He doesn’t know what’s stopping him. He was just here a few hours ago, trying to get out of this place, and now he’s hesitant to go back inside. There’s just heavy feeling in his chest that tells him that he shouldn’t be here.

Jihoon’s voice startles him. “Just open the goddamn door,” he says from the couch.

Mingyu takes a deep breath and opens the door slowly. He doesn’t know why he expected the room to be different. He really feels like the last time he’s here is weeks ago. That what happened last night didn’t actually happen last night.

The dorm room is still the same, of course. And thankfully, it’s empty once again, saved for Wonwoo who is sitting on his bed, his back facing Mingyu. The bed where they slept together as in only slept beside each other and not actually _slept together_.

It seems like Wonwoo didn’t hear the door opening nor the footsteps that Mingyu is now making. Mingyu approaches him until he’s a meter away from the bed, ready to make his presence known to Wonwoo but he stops again. He feels like there is something wrong. Wonwoo isn’t moving. Why the bloody hell isn’t he moving?

“Wonwoo?” he calls out.

He waits for a second.

Nothing happens.

His hand slowly reaches for Wonwoo’s shoulder. “Wonwoo?” he calls again.

As soon as his hand makes contact with Wonwoo’s shoulder, Wonwoo jumps away grabbing his arm and twists it. He screams in pain and tries to get out of Wonwoo’s grip but the latter is stronger than what he looks like.

“Wonwoo, stop! Stop! Stop! _Stop!_ ”

Wonwoo finally realizes what he’s doing and let goes of Mingyu’s arm, making the Gryffindor fall to the floor on his butt. Mingyu holds his arm, he can still feel the pain in his muscles and his bones. Wonwoo backs away until he his back hits the post of another bed.

“Mingyu,” he says softly. “I’m so sorry. I thought—I thought y-you—”

Mingyu stands up, still holding his arm. “H-hey. It’s okay.”

He tries to get closer to Wonwoo but the older takes a step away from him. “No! It’s not okay!” Mingyu can see the tears running down Wonwoo’s face, and he very much wants to wipe them all away. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. _I’m so sorry_.”

Mingyu tries to take another step but Wonwoo stops him. “No! Stay away from me!”

He knows that Wonwoo doesn’t mean it like he doesn’t want Mingyu to be around but the words give so much impact on his heart. That heavy, aching feeling that makes you want to rip your heart out. “Wonwoo…”

“No, Mingyu, just leave.”

Mingyu holds his tears back. He won’t cry, no. Not today, not in front of Wonwoo. His fists are so tightly clenched at his sides that he can feel his fingernails digging into his palm. And Mingyu doesn’t have long fingernails.

“Are you sure? I can help—”

“I don’t need your help,” Wonwoo snaps which makes Mingyu flinch away. Then Wonwoo’s face softens. “Please, Mingyu. It’s better if you stay away from me.”

Mingyu doesn’t understand why all of this is happening. Yesterday, Wonwoo wasn’t feeling too good because of Aaron Sinclair but somehow, Mingyu had made Wonwoo’s day better. He’s no longer feeling guilty. He was already a bit cheeky a few hours ago when they were in front of the Gryffindor common room, making such remarks that had made Mingyu blush red as a tomato. All is already well. All _was_ well.

Until now.

He doesn’t understand why this have to happen. He doesn’t understand how this could happen. He doesn’t understand any of it. Everything happened too fast that he doesn’t understand it all. Are these all meant to be fast paced? He hates it.

Mingyu thinks that maybe it’s some kind of sick joke of Fate’s.

 _It’s better if you stay away from me_.

Wonwoo looks up at him as he takes a step back, and another one, and another one, and another one.

He doesn’t to force himself to someone who wants him to stay away. He’ll do as what Wonwoo told him, he doesn’t really have much choice here. Even if it’s breaking his heart into pieces, he’ll stay away. Because that’s what Wonwoo wants.

And so Mingyu leaves the room with words left unsaid.


	16. XV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soonyoung is the dumbest person in existence. And Mingyu wants to wake up from his fantasy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i finished this at almost 2 am on a school day so please bear with the errors. i'm sorrynshdhd. THANK YOU EVERYONE!

Mingyu knows that Kwon Soonyoung fucks up sometimes. _Scratch that_. Kwon Soonyoung fucks up most of the time.

But even if with that mindset, Mingyu is surprised when Soonyoung told him everything that night. It’s actually Soonyoung’s third time to tell the story when Mingyu gets it, and he’s pretty sure a lot of details have been cut off because Soonyoung tells it in about 2 minutes when he told the first two in almost 10. And also the fact that Soonyoung looks annoyed indicates that he was tired of telling the story.

“Why are you so dumb?” is the first thing that Mingyu says. He knows he should be a better friend than that but he’s certain anyone would also ask that question after hearing Soonyoung’s story.

“I know,” his best friend says. “I’m so fucking dumb, Mingyu. I wish I could seal my lips.” Soonyoung groans and tugs on his hair. “I don’t want to lose him. This is the first time I’m feeling this and I don’t want to l-lose h-him.”

Mingyu bites his lip. “We’re talking about Jihoon, right?”

Soonyoung looks at him, his usual bright eyes are now cold and empty. And this is the first time that Mingyu has seen his best friend this sad, he can’t take it. This doesn’t fit Soonyoung, this isn’t Soonyoung. “Both of them,” the older says finally.

“Tell me, Soonyoung. Do you really like Jihoon? Or are you just using him to forget your feelings about Seokmin?”

The older opens his mouth but no words come out. Mingyu scoots closer to his best friend and rubs his back.

The day isn’t really going well for Mingyu. And he hopes everything that happened today is some kind of sick imagination of his. But everything is too harsh to be Mingyu’s imagination. This is reality. Everyone knows reality hurts, reality will make sure to keep reminding you that. If it’s too good then it’s fake, it’s a fantasy, it’s a dream, it’s an imagination.

Mingyu hates thinking about what happened to him so he doesn’t. Or at least, he tries not to.

It’s hard not to think about it when that’s the only thing in his mind, as if everything else is deleted except for that scene that keeps replaying in his head. Mingyu doesn’t even remember how he got in their dorm. He doesn’t remember what Jihoon said to him when he walked out, he doesn’t remember walking that far, and he doesn’t remember when Soonyoung arrived in the dorm. He hopes he doesn’t remember everything.

Soonyoung lies down on the bed with a long sigh. Mingyu thinks he and his best friend are somewhat cursed. Whenever something happens to him also happens to Soonyoung. He finds it creepy and laughable in a way.

His best friend, Kwon Soonyoung, barely gets bothered by things. It’s mostly Soonyoung who bothers things. He can’t say that the older has never been sad because he probably has been. But this is different, this is _too_ sad. It’s not the normal Kwon Soonyoung.

Not to mention, Soonyoung can also be the dumbest person alive.

The only information that Mingyu got from him—because Mingyu is also an idiot for spacing out too much—is that Jihoon asked him if what they are or what was actually Soonyoung’s intention with the whole date thing. And Soonyoung, being the dumbass that he is, blurted out that he’s in love with one of his best friends, Lee Seokmin.

Mingyu doesn’t know what happened after since Soonyoung didn’t tell but he’s certain that it’s bad. He lies down next to his best friend.

“We’re so tragic, Mingyu,” Soonyoung says. Mingyu looks at his friend in confusion. The older takes a glance at him before staring at the ceiling. “You don’t have to say it. I know something bad happened to you today. The look on your face says it all, and I bet Jeon Wonwoo is the reason behind this.”

Mingyu can’t find the right word to say. Does he need to say anything?

As if hearing what’s in his mind, Soonyoung says, “You don’t need to say anything. You can tell me whenever you’re ready.”

The fact is Mingyu wants to let it all out. He wants to rant all the things in his mind right now. But he can’t, fucking hell he can’t. He can already feel the tears building up in his eyes, he’s sure he won’t even be able to tell the whole story to Soonyoung because he’ll only end up sobbing in his arms.

“I ha—”

He can’t bring himself to say he hates Jeon Wonwoo because it’s a lie, and he wishes it isn’t. Even with happened today, he can’t hate the Slytherin. Instead, he feels more affectionate with the said boy. He knows Wonwoo is a little bit troubled right now and he wants to be there for him, but he has to stay away.

Soonyoung hums. “What is it?”

Mingyu shakes his head. “Nothing.” The silence is deafening. And Mingyu can feel that there are too many words left unsaid from both of them. So he nudges Soonyoung. “What is it?”

“AndJihoontoldmehelikesmeforaverylongtimenow,” Soonyoung says a little bit too fast for Mingyu to understand.

The taller of the two sits up. “What?”

Soonyoung takes a deep breath. “Jihoon had told me that he likes me since third year.” He bites his lip. “Or liked, I don’t know.”

“Damn,” he mutters. “And I thought it couldn’t get any worse.”

“I know.”

* * *

The whole week is like a big joke. Or those funny things that Muggles watch in box thing—Mingyu’s pretty sure it’s called television. It’s like a comedy play but only in a box. Mingyu would’ve laughed at the whole thing if he wasn’t in it.

It’s amusing to see that Lee Jihoon doesn’t need to avoid Soonyoung because whenever the latter sees Jihoon (even if it’s just his hand or his hair), he would turn the other way. And Mingyu can’t forget the time that Soonyoung and Jihoon bumped into each other in the lavatory, and Soonyoung ran away despite of really needing to pee. It was really a sight to see.

Soonyoung had told Mingyu that he wants to talk to Jihoon. Everything’s really different with Soonyoung this time. Mingyu isn’t sure because something is special with Jihoon or because Soonyoung finally became more mature in his love life. Either way, it’s a great upgrade than when his best friend neglects his feelings.

Although a lot of these moments are amusing to Mingyu, he can’t deny that it’s painful to see Soonyoung also avoid Seokmin. It isn’t that obvious so Seokmin doesn’t realize that something is different. (Well, he never realizes anything). But Mingyu and Seungkwan can clearly see it and they don’t like it. So during breakfast, Mingyu pulls his friend into a corner in the Great Hall.

“Soonyoung!” he hisses.

“What?”

“Why are you avoiding Seokmin too?”

The boy in question pretends to not know a thing. “Um, I don’t?”

Mingyu rolls his eyes. “Seungkwan and I aren’t blind, you know. And we’re not oblivious like Seokmin.”

Soonyoung sighs and gives in. “Fine, yeah, I’m avoiding him.” Before Mingyu can reply, Soonyoung stops him. “But! There’s a but, there’s a but! But only until I fix this shit with Jihoon.”

“I bet you haven’t told them.” The look on Soonyoung’s face says that Mingyu’s assumption is right. “Knew it. Why haven’t you?”

“Because you know, I’d be forced to tell them why,” Soonyoung answers. “And I don’t want them to know. I don’t want Seokmin to know, ever.”

“Are you over him now?” Mingyu asks.

Soonyoung groans then suddenly looks at him with a mischievous glint in his eyes. Mingyu doesn’t already like what’s going to happen. “You’ve been too busy with my life now that we’re forgetting about yours,” he says. “What about you, huh? When will you tell me about your little situation, prick?”

Mingyu scoffs. “You know what—”

“Soonyoung.”

It’s been days.

It’s been peaceful days since everything happened but Mingyu’s heart still aches whenever he sees and hears Jeon Wonwoo. Just thinking about the Slytherin boy’s name makes his mouth dry and eyes watery.

It wasn’t difficult to avoid Wonwoo because they’re both doing it. Wonwoo has changed seats in all the subjects they have together, and Mingyu can’t say that he’s fine with it because he will never be. Even if he’s avoiding the older, he misses him very much which makes him sadder because he knows the feeling isn’t reciprocated. He misses Wonwoo seating behind him in Potions the most. While Wonwoo’s presence was a distraction for the first few weeks (or months) of school, it has become the one of the reasons why Mingyu does well in Potions. Wonwoo’s voice helps him concentrate.

But hearing Wonwoo’s voice behind him now doesn’t distract him nor help him concentrate. It only makes his heart clenched. So Mingyu doesn’t turn around and only close his eyes. Wonwoo won’t notice him anyway, he’s only here because he and Soonyoung are partners for a project in Charms.

“This is my part of the project,” he hears Wonwoo say. “It’s all done.”

“Oh, okay. Thanks.”

Mingyu hears footsteps retreating and relaxes once they can’t be heard. He opens his eyes and sees his friend holding a bunch of parchments and looking at him with pity eyes. “Oh, God. Please don’t look at me like that.”

“Sorry, man,” Soonyoung says as he pats him on the shoulder. “You do kinda look pitiful.”

“Fuck off.”

Breakfast is good as usual aside from the fact that Seungcheol reminds them of another Quidditch practice. And Mingyu doesn’t understand because their next game is still on next year. They don’t have to practice too much. He and Soonyoung are about to complain but Seungcheol isn’t having any of it. (“It’s my last year. We’re not going to lose now.”)

And Mingyu should’ve realized that something is up from the way Soonyoung walks excitedly toward their class. He looks so giddy and happy, it’s not unusual in normal circumstances but right now, it is. Soonyoung just can’t be look sullen these past few days and go back to his normal self in an instant.

He doesn’t mind it anyway. And that’s a huge mistake.

Mingyu’s too spaced out when they enter the classroom that he barely registers how Soonyoung runs to their table, and seconds later, Junhui runs from his and Wonwoo’s new table toward his and Soonyoung’s. Mingyu is frozen at the doorway.

“Mr. Kim.” Mingyu turns around and finds himself face to face with their professor who raises an eyebrow. “Please take a seat. I’m pretty sure you’re old enough how to find one.”

He ignores the snickers from the other students and walks to the only empty seat in the room. He glares at Soonyoung and Junhui but they are too busy talking to each to notice. Mingyu promises to himself that the two will pay for this little scheme they did.

He sits down at one of the farthest table with a huff. It has been only seconds and he can already feel the air getting awkward.

Wonwoo doesn’t move nor look at him. He only stays still and Mingyu’s a bit disappointed because of course, he still expected that the boy would greet him, even if it’s only a nod. Maybe he should know better. Wonwoo hates him, and he’d never talk to him again.

Mingyu barely understands what their professor is saying, his eyes keep glancing toward Wonwoo and he wants to stop. He wants everything to stop. He wants to reach his hand and put it on Wonwoo’s shoulder, and tell him everything he wants to say but he can’t.

“Mr. Kim,” his head snaps to the professor, “what is Amortentia and what does it smell like?”

“Um…”

 _Well, fucking great, Mingyu_.

Wonwoo raises his hand. “Yes, Mr. Jeon?”

“Amortentia is the most powerful love potion in existence. It can make the drinker be obsessed with the person who administered it but the effects wear off after a time. And the smell of Amortentia varies for everyone for it gives off the smell of the things that people find most attractive.”

Mingyu doesn’t know why but hearing Wonwoo talk about the most powerful love potion in existence makes him breathless.

“Very good. 5 points to Slytherin.”

Their professor tells them that they won’t be making Amortentia much to the students' dismay. So instead, their professor pulls out a small vial and makes all the students smell it by partners then they have to talk about what they smell with their partners.

Mingyu feels nervous.

Finally, he and Wonwoo are called. Wonwoo smells the vial first then he gives it to Mingyu. Mingyu smells it cautiously, as if like he’s afraid that what he’s going to smell is different from what he wants.

The potion smells like old parchment and something sweet. No, not the candy type of sweet but the sweet that feels kind of warm and it feels like home. And it smells a little bit like lavender. The smell is too familiar but at the same time, it’s not. Mingyu isn’t really sure how he’s describing these aromas, they just come to him.

When they go back to their table, Mingyu is surprised that Wonwoo is the first one to talk. The Slytherin pulls out a parchment and a quill, then asks, “What did you smell?”

Mingyu scratches his head. He doesn’t know how to describe the aroma all of a sudden. “Old parchment, something sweet, and uh…lavender.”

Wonwoo repeats everything he said as he writes them down on the parchment. Then he proceeds to write what he smelled and gives the parchment to Mingyu to pass it. Mingyu reads what Wonwoo has written down.

_Lemon, sea, and a kind of flowery smell._

Mingyu doesn’t ask the boy about it, although he badly wants to. He remembers that they’re only doing this for the sake of learning in Potions. This doesn’t change the fact that Wonwoo told him to stay away from him.

Their professor dismisses the class after everyone passes the parchment.

Mingyu quickly goes to his original table and before he can give Junhui a smack on the head, the latter bids them goodbye and runs outside. Soonyoung gives him a nervous smile and makes a heart out of his hands. Mingyu shakes his head and smacks his friend’s head.

“Next time you that, give me a warning, dumbass.”

“Oh, wait so I’m allowed to do it again?”

He gives Soonyoung a glare. “Bitch, no.” He sighs. “I looked like an idiot, and Wonwoo’s hatred probably grew.”

“Hatred?” Soonyoung asks. “Junhui planned this whole thing, he never mentioned the possibility of Wonwoo hating you.”

“He probably doesn’t know.”

“Or you’re probably wrong,” Soonyoung offers.

Mingyu decides to dismiss it. “Anyway, what do I smell like?”

“You?” Soonyoung leans in and sniffs. “You smell like something woody, maybe it’s like a broomstick. You also smell like a freshly cut grass, and there’s more…it’s something sweet…vanilla, perhaps?” Soonyoung looks at him. “You smell like nature, man.”

“Oh.”

“Why? Is there something wrong?”

“No, nothing.”

Maybe Mingyu should just forget his infatuation and wake up to the reality.

_Yes, I should do that._


	17. XVI

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It may be or may be not Mingyu's worst Christmas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i finished this at 6 aM SO PLEASE FORGIVE FOR ME FOR ANY ERRORS. AND I HOPE Y'ALL LIKE THIS CHAPTER. I FEEL LIKE IT'S SO BAD NNSGDHS

“Am I going to fail the Potions exam? Mingyu, what do you think?”

Mingyu puts down the newspaper he’s reading. “Soonyoung, you already did fail the exam, remember? Stop trying to deny and forget the reality.”

“I thought it was the Charms exam?” Soonyoung asks.

Mingyu rolls his eyes. He doesn’t know if his best friend is being dumb on purpose or he’s finally evolved into a full dumb human being. He sighs. “You, failing Charms? Really, Soonyoung? That’s like the only subject you’re good at.”

Soonyoung’s brow furrows as he pouts. “Hey!”

Before Mingyu can laugh, someone claps him on the shoulder. He turns and sees Seungcheol smiling at them as he takes a seat beside Mingyu with a small groan. It sounds like Seungcheol is an old man or maybe he really is.

“Hey, kiddos,” Seungcheol says.

“Kiddos, really? Seungcheol, you’re literally just one year older than me,” Soonyoung says.

Seungcheol squints his eyes. “Yeah, but you got a mind of a 5-year old kid,” he retorts. Mingyu laughs but that doesn’t prevent him from being Seungcheol’s victim. “And you, Kim Mingyu, got a mind of an 8-year old kid, stop laughing.”

“Why does he get to be the 8-year old?” Soonyoung complains.

“’Cause probably I’m more mature than you?” Mingyu says in a ‘duh’ tone.

“Anyway,” Seungcheol cuts in making Soonyoung groan. “It’s Christmas tomorrow. Aren’t you guys coming home?”

“No,” say the two boys.

Mingyu almost forgets that it’s Christmas tomorrow. He’s been busy because of all the exams that their professors decided to give suddenly. Mingyu didn’t have any time to study and he almost failed Potions—Soonyoung being unlucky actually failed the test, although he likes to pretend that he didn’t.

“My parents are out of town for work, so we won’t be together even if I did go home,” explains Soonyoung with a sad tone in his voice. His face remains the same but Mingyu knows that his best friend is just trying to look like he’s okay with it and that he’s not sad with the whole thing.

Seungcheol pats Soonyoung on the back. “Ah, don’t fret. I’m pretty sure you’d have time with your family soon.” Then he turns to Mingyu, waiting for his answer.

“When they learned that Soonyoung will be here for Christmas, they said I should stay too,” he says. And it’s the truth. Mingyu’s mother really insisted that Mingyu should stay for his best friend, and of course, Mingyu also don’t want his best friend to be alone this Christmas.

“Your parents love me more than you, man,” Soonyoung says.

“You’re gonna spend your Christmas alone, I guess.”

“Dude, it was a joke!”

The Head Boy grins and reaches to ruffle the youngers’ hairs. “I’m gonna miss you two.”

“You’re only gonna be away for a week or two, Seungcheol. Don’t be so dramatic,” Soonyoung says which earns him a smack on the head from Seungcheol. “Ow!”

Seungcheol grins and stands up. “We’ll be leaving later.” He starts to walk away but he stops and turns around to face the two again. “And as soon as we get back…we’ll have a Quidditch practice.” He gives them a wide smile and runs as fast as he can.

“What? No!”

“Seungcheol, no!”

But the oldest is already out of sight before the two can make more complains.

Mingyu doesn’t want to have a Quidditch practice, everyone knows that. But also, he doesn’t want to play Quidditch any time soon. It’s one of the most surprising sentences that anyone will hear if he says it out loud considering that everyone knows he wants to play Quidditch 24/7. But for some reason, he doesn’t want to. It seems like he has forgotten about his love for Quidditch all of a sudden.

The two Gryffindors go back to what they were doing before Seungcheol came, and that is Mingyu reading (looking at) the Daily Prophet and Soonyoung…Mingyu doesn’t really know what Soonyoung is doing here.

Soonyoung still hasn’t been himself for the past few days. Yes, he’s still being the cocky asshole that he is but not like what he used to be. When Mingyu considered the thought of his best friend changing, he never thought that it would be because of the short Slytherin with the name of Lee Jihoon.

Soonyoung has never mentioned Jihoon once for days. Mingyu wants to bring the topic up every now and then but he doesn’t. Although, he wants to know what his best friend is feeling, he’s also afraid that bringing up Jihoon would make Soonyoung quiet and sad. Despite of the changes on his mood, the older Gryffindor has been actually a bit happier and Mingyu doesn’t want to ruin that. He only wants his best friend to be happy, and so he hopes Soonyoung will figure out his true feelings.

Speaking about Soonyoung’s feelings, Lee Jihoon suddenly walks inside the Great Hall. Mingyu being the dumbass he is, slams the newspaper on the table in panic—he has no idea why he’s panicking, and he shouldn’t be. And so, Soonyoung, who is nicely burying his face on the table, jerks up and turns around.

“Oh, shit,” Mingyu mutters. “Soonyoung, do you want—”

“Should I go talk to him?” Soonyoung asks as his eyes follow Jihoon walking toward the Slytherin table. “Oh God, Mingyu, I feel like I miss him?”

“You should sort out your feelings first before you talk to him,” says Mingyu. He looks at Jihoon, who is now talking to someone at the Slytherin table. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to talk to him without thinking about what you’re going to say. I mean, at least plan it out.”

But when he looks back at his best friend, Soonyoung is fixing his sweater. “Soonyoung, no,” he hisses.

Soonyoung looks at him, eyes determined. “I feel like this is the right time, Mingyu.”

“Right time to what?” Mingyu asks. “You don’t even know your feelings yet!”

“Yes, Mingyu, I don’t.” Soonyoung looks down and takes a shaky deep breath. He stays still for a moment before looking up at Mingyu looking like he’s about to break down anytime soon. It gives a sting on Mingyu’s heart. “But there’s one thing I know, I don’t want to lose Jihoon.”

The two of the looks at the Slytherin table but Jihoon is no longer there. Mingyu finds the said Slytherin going out of the Great Hall. He looks back to Soonyoung and stares at nothing, and when he looks again at the entrance of the Great Hall, he sees his best friend running after Jihoon.

Mingyu can’t help but groan. “I hope you don’t fuck up now, Soonyoung.” 

* * *

It’s been almost an hour since the students who are going home left the school. And it’s been hours since Soonyoung went after Jihoon. Mingyu hasn’t seen the boy since then. Since, Soonyoung hasn’t come back yet, he only deduces that whatever Soonyoung did, it worked. That or his best friend is wallowing in sadness somewhere in the castle.

Mingyu has spent half of his day in his bed, doing nothing. He also tried to waste his time organizing his gifts for his friends—he and Soonyoung went to buy last weekend, during the second Hogsmeade visit, and while Mingyu came back with his arms full of paper bags, Soonyoung came back empty-handed—but everything took less than an hour.

It’s Mingyu’s first time spending Christmas in the castle. He feels excited, but he also feels sad. He’s been alone all day: Soonyoung is nowhere to be seen, and Seungkwan, Seokmin, and Seungcheol (his only other close friends) went home. He feels like he is going to die of boredom.

Seeing that it’s almost dinner time, Mingyu goes down to the Great Hall. The small amount of the students makes the hall look so vast. Mingyu feels like he’s a first year again walking down the aisle to get sorted. The whole castle looked gigantic and magical that day.

He takes a seat on the Gryffindor table and looks around. He notices that most of the Gryffindors who stayed are third years but there are quite a lot of seventh years too, who probably stayed to spend the remaining time with their friends. The Ravenclaw table has the least number of students while Hufflepuff has quite a lot too.

Mingyu doesn’t want to look at the Slytherin table, he knows he shouldn’t. All those days, he fought the urge of talking and looking at Wonwoo, he doesn’t want to ruin it now. But even with thousands of warnings in his head, he takes a peek at the Slytherin table anyway.

He sighs in relief when he doesn’t see Wonwoo at the table. Maybe the boy went home too, Mingyu doesn’t really know. He knows that Wonwoo goes home for Christmas when they younger, and he knows that because his huge crush on the Slytherin made him like a creep that knows every schedule of the older. But he doesn’t know now, Wonwoo probably went home again.

When dinner time comes, the Headmistress says a little speech about something love and happiness. Mingyu tries not to listen. It feels like he’s forcing himself to be truly happy if he does, and he’s far from being really happy.

After the seemingly long speech, the tables get filled with various plates of food. And the food is quite special too as they’re different than the usual dinner food in Hogwarts. Mingyu fills his plate with whatever he thinks delicious is and digs in. He silently thanks the houseelves for making his Christmas better.

Mingyu is almost finished when he remembers Soonyoung. The sole reason why he’s spending Christmas here and not with his family is nowhere to be found. “Ah.” He shakes his head. “That bloody git really ditched me. He’s gonna pay for this.”

Shaking Soonyoung out of his head, Mingyu goes to the different tables to greet students. He loves how Christmas brings people together in happiness and in peace. Mingyu only knows some of the other students but here he is, trying to greet them all because it’s Christmas tomorrow. What he did makes him more lighthearted, but it still doesn’t feel the same as his usual Christmas celebrations.

Not knowing what to do after, Mingyu decides to go back to their dorm. But as he’s on the middle of the moving staircase, he decides to go to the Astronomy Tower instead. Mingyu hates going up there but he’ll be better about it today since he can take all the time in the world to get up there, and he’d be alone, the staircase will be spacious.

Considering that Mingyu is a very athletic person and that he’s going up the stairs in a very slow pace, going up to the Astronomy Tower is still one of the hardest tasks for Mingyu. If only he can fly up here.

The first thing that he feels when he emerges inside the circular open room is the cold air. Mingyu wraps his arms around himself. It brings him a bit warmth, but it’s not warm enough to make him stop shivering. Nonetheless, Mingyu still closes the door behind him and sits down near one of the railings.

Mingyu looks up at the sky. It isn’t clear, and he wishes he can see the stars right now. They must look beautiful behind those thick clouds. Mingyu can’t remember the last time he’s been here but he knows it’s a long time ago. The surrounding feels so familiar yet not. It’s like an old memory that you keep forgetting.

He takes a deep breath and hugs his knees. He knows that his sadness isn’t just because of him being away from his parents for Christmas nor the fact that he stayed at the castle for his best friend but the said best friend ditched him. What he feels right now all go back to that day, that _horrible_ day.

Mingyu sighs. “God, why do I keep missing you, Jeon Wonwoo?”

After what happened with the Amortentia activity in Potions, Mingyu has tried his best to ignore and forget Jeon Wonwoo. Soonyoung and Junhui have tried to do the same trick again but Mingyu made sure that it won’t repeat. There’s also a time when Soonyoung locked him in a broom closet hoping that he would be stuck with Wonwoo but Junhui locked Wonwoo in a different one. Mingyu almost ignored Soonyoung that day. Since then, the two stopped their mischiefs. At least, Mingyu has less things to worry about.

Soonyoung has never brought Wonwoo or anything related about him up, and Mingyu is thankful for that. But to be honest, it’s painful. A world where he _doesn’t_ care about Wonwoo is a world he doesn’t want to be part of. But Mingyu knows, he knows that it’s for the best that he forgets about everything.

Mingyu and Wonwoo are friends for only a short amount of time but it’s one of the best times for Mingyu. He hopes that he can go back to the time and relive those moments he’s with Wonwoo. Whatever it is that’s troubling Wonwoo, he hopes the older will find a way to fix it. He just wants Wonwoo to be happy.

“Figure out you might be here.”

Mingyu grab the railing, he thinks he’s going to have a heart attack. He whips around so fast that he’s afraid he might break his neck. The doorway is dark but Mingyu doesn’t really need to see who’s standing there, from the voice alone he knows who it is. And he’s afraid that this might be his mind playing tricks with him.

“W-what are y-you doing here?” Mingyu’s voice is shaky.

_Why am I so nervous?_

Wonwoo steps out of the dark, and Mingyu finds himself gasping for air. “I really don’t know too,” says the Slytherin. “I just—” Wonwoo sighs and looks up at the ceiling, “God, what am I even doing? I shouldn’t be doing this.”

“Doing what?” Mingyu doesn’t know where he finds the courage to speak up. “Please, Wonwoo, you told me to stay away and I did. I was doing so well in pretending you don’t exist!” He totally wasn’t but he stands by his words. “And now, you suddenly showed up for some reason. I don’t know what you want but please, make up your mind. I don’t wanna talk to you again if you’re just gonna ask me to stay away from you again.” Mingyu wants to cry. He doesn’t want to be too rude or harsh at Wonwoo but his heart aches. He just doesn’t want to go through it all again. He doesn’t want to talk to Wonwoo again if it means they’ll never talk again after this. He finds it so unfair that Wonwoo just does that. He finds it so unfair that it hurts so much for him but Wonwoo is still okay.

Wonwoo’s face is unreadable yet again. Mingyu thinks he said it too harsh for the Slytherin doesn’t say anything for the next minute. Then he bites his lip and looks at the floor. “You’re right, I shouldn’t do that, but I also don’t regret making you stay away from me.”

Mingyu feels his heart breaking. “Oh, okay—”

“But what I do regret is not telling you everything.”

“Wonwoo, I told you, you don’t have to—”

“You’re very curious about why I’m always at the right place during the right time, right?” Wonwoo takes a deep breath. “That’s because I’m a seer.”

Mingyu doesn’t know what to say. He’s heard about seers before but they’re a bit rare that he has really no knowledge about them.

“I know it sounds crazy.”

“Wonwoo, we’re literally wizards.”

Wonwoo chuckles. “But yeah, I always get these visions of you. I don’t know why but it’s always you and no one else.”

Mingyu can’t remember when he started crying but he can feel his tears pouring down his face. “I…When did this start?”

“End of fourth year,” Wonwoo answers. “But I thought they were just dreams. And you know what’s my biggest mistake is?”

“What?”

“It’s that I didn’t tell you that Sinclair is going to break your heart. I saw how you fell in love with him, and I also saw how he broke your heart. When I saw that vision in my dream, I woke up in the middle of the night and I couldn’t go back to sleep. Then I,” he chuckles, “I fucking cried because you deserve so much better than that, and he’s just going to break your heart.”

Mingyu bites his lip. “Why didn’t you tell me then?”

“I tried, even though we didn’t really talk back then. I tried…” Wonwoo’s voice got lower. “I tried but when I saw you, you were with him, and you looked so happy. I just couldn’t take that away from you.”

It’s too much to take in, Mingyu doesn’t know what to do.

“Yeah, so that day when Sinclair bothered you, I saw that too. And when he led you into a trap, and when you sneaked out of the Slytherin dungeon and almost got caught. I saw those in my visions or dreams, I-I don’t really know what to call them.”

_Seer. Visions. Dreams. Wonwoo._

_Wonwoo being an actual seer._

It seems like the world is spinning or maybe it’s just Mingyu’s head. “All this time?”

“I didn’t know how to say…”

Mingyu gives him a smile. “It’s okay, Wonwoo. You didn’t really have to, you know? But I appreciate it a lot. At least, everything—okay, not everything—most things are clear to me now. I really just thought everything’s a coincidence. Thank you for telling me.”

Mingyu knows that there are still many things at the tip of Wonwoo’s tongue but he doesn’t ask about it. He knows how hard already this is for Wonwoo, maybe he’ll know _everything_ someday, maybe not. But Mingyu’s Christmas is now definitely better than what he expected.

Mingyu stands up and dusts off his pants. When he looks up, he meets Wonwoo’s eyes. His breath hitches because he only notices that the faint moonlight is illuminating Wonwoo’s face and it’s the most beautiful sight he has ever seen.

He looks away. “Is that how you find me here too? The v-vision thing?”

“Yeah.” Wonwoo nods. “I saw you talking to yourself here about…”

“About what?” Mingyu asks.

“About how you keep m-missing me.”

Maybe the world stops right at that moment or maybe Mingyu and Wonwoo are just too frozen. Mingyu feels his throat getting dry. If Wonwoo has seen that, then he has probably seen Mingyu talking about his feelings for Wonwoo. At that moment, Mingyu thinks that jumping off from the highest tower in Hogwarts is more bearable than facing Jeon Wonwoo.

He can’t stay here. “I-I have to g-go,” he croaks out.

But before Mingyu can go inside, Wonwoo stops him. “Mingyu, wait!”

Mingyu turns around and everything happens so fast.

He can’t remember how Wonwoo got nearer to him that they’re only inches away from each other. He can’t remember how Wonwoo’s hands are suddenly gripping his sweater. He can’t remember what Wonwoo says.

But he remembers how the world seems to stop as his eyes lock into Wonwoo’s. He remembers how Wonwoo looks at his lips before going back to his eyes. He remembers how he closes the space between them as their lips meet.

The kiss is desperate, as for people who wanted to kiss each other for ages. Mingyu has thought of how soft Wonwoo’s lips would be, and to compare the actual to the imagination would be an insult. The Slytherin boy tastes of something sweet, something familiar that he can’t recognize, and Mingyu kisses him harder, putting his hands on Wonwoo’s hips, pulling him closer. The movement makes Wonwoo gasp and _fucking hell_ , no one should look that good even when gasping.

Wonwoo cups his cheek and kisses him again, this time, slower. Mingyu wraps his arms around the shorter boy’s waist. The kiss is slower, sweeter and warmer, and it’s Jeon Wonwoo, it’s everything that Mingyu wanted. And to top it off, they’re being illuminated by the moonlight.

He doesn’t know how long the kiss is but then they pull away, both gasping for air. Mingyu doesn’t remember putting his hands on Wonwoo’s hair but it looks disheveled, and his eyes are still wanting. Wonwoo looks like a mess, and he, Kim Mingyu, did that to him.

“Wow,” Mingyu says. “Is this even real?”

Wonwoo pulls him for a peck. “Yes, it’s real, Kim Mingyu.”

Mingyu doesn’t say anything after that. He only stares at the boy he loves in front of him. Even though Wonwoo confirmed that this is real, he’s still afraid that this just might be his imagination. That Wonwoo will disappear in any second.

“I made you stay away because,” Wonwoo gulps, “I had a vision that you kissed me that day, and—and I pushed you away and you were so hurt. I was so afraid that it would happen, and I didn’t know what to do. I figured that maybe if we don’t talk anymore then I wouldn’t be able to hurt you.

“But when I suddenly got a vision earlier, a vision of you saying that you missed me, I realized that I was hurting you more by making you stay away. And there’s a possibility that I might lose you if I don’t do something about it. And I’m so sorry, I should’ve been better than this. I didn’t think this though, I didn’t know—”

Mingyu pulls Wonwoo into a hug, the Slytherin’s head fits perfectly against his chest, silencing him. “Hey, hey. Don’t think about it now, okay? I’m here now. And it’s alright, I forgive you, please don’t be too hard on yourself. I know it must be hard what you’re going through and I understand.”

Wonwoo wraps his arms around the taller boy’s torso, he smiles up at him. “Thank you for being always there for me, for always understanding. I really can’t thank you enough.”

“I’m always here for you, remember that,” he says. “But you said that you don’t regret making me stay away, how so?”

“Because if that didn’t happen then this won’t happen,” Wonwoo answers. “There would be a new outcome from that, and maybe this moment would never exist.”

Mingyu shudders at the thought of not having this moment. “So are we…a thing now? _Boyfriends?_ ”

“Isn’t it where this is going?”

“I mean y-yeah, of course.”

Wonwoo shakes his head. “You really are something else, Kim Mingyu.”

Mingyu’s face scrunches up. “Hey, what is that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing.” Wonwoo chuckles. “Don’t worry, it’s a good thing.”

The two smile at each other before leaning in for another kiss. And this might be the perfect Christmas that Mingyu could ever ask for.

* * *

“I don’t have a gift for you,” Mingyu says sadly.

Wonwoo rolls his eyes. “It’s been just a few hours since we just started talking and dating, I think it’s okay if you don’t have any gift, Mingyu.”

“But…” The Gryffindor pouts.

The two has spent the past few hours in the Astronomy Tower. They also welcomed Christmas up in the said tower. It was so cold up there that Mingyu thinks they’re going to have a cold once they wake up in the morning but seriously, being exposed to cold winter air for hours is worth it as long as he’s with Wonwoo.

They stop walking when they reach the front of the Slytherin Dungeon. Wonwoo gives him the warmest smile. Mingyu is still foreign with those smiles of Wonwoo’s but he loves them so much already.  “I’ve liked you since we were fourth year, I’m really so glad that today happened. You don’t know how much I’m happy right now,” Wonwoo says.

“Fourth year?” Mingyu feels beyond flabbergasted.

Wonwoo scratches the back of his neck. “Yeah, I know. You like another person that time.”

Mingyu cups Wonwoo’s face and kisses him. When he pulls away, he says, “I’ve got a crush on you since first year.”

“You better not be joking,” Wonwoo threatens.

“I’m not!” Mingyu laughs.

“You surprise me everyday, Kim Mingyu.”

Wonwoo wraps his arms around Mingyu’s neck and pulls him for another kiss—

“ _Holy shit_.”

The two jumps away from each other. Standing at the door of the Slytherin Dungeon is none other than Kwon Soonyoung. Soonyoung’s eyes go back and forth between Mingyu and Wonwoo until he stops and gives his best friend smug-looking grin.

“Kim Mingyu, my man!” He pulls Mingyu into a hug as he pats his best friend’s back.

“Soonyoung, what is going—”

Peeking from inside the dungeon is Lee Jihoon who is clearly not wearing any top. The said Slytherin freezes and stares at them before disappearing inside like a lightning bolt.

“What the bloody hell,” Mingyu mutters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i really don't know how seers are supposed to work on hp since there aren't much about them on the books and the wiki. so you could say this is my version of a VERY RARE seer??? anyway that's it, i hope y'all like this :(


	18. XVII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soonyoung and Jihoon are the Hogwarts stars again. And Mingyu is contented in his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okkkkkkkkk. FIRST OF ALL, i'm so sorry for the long wait. i wanted to do two updates this week bc no school but... anyway, i'd be busier next week :''( expect slower updates ig :--(
> 
> ANYWAY I HOPE Y'ALL LIKE THIS (bc i feel this is shitty but this i meanie so they're kinda not) this is also unedited woweee

To say that Mingyu is happy with his life right now is such a big lie.

He is way more than happy.

Although he didn’t get to spend Christmas eve with his family, he got the best present that he could ever ask for (which is in the form of a sixth year Slytherin who, Mingyu recently learns, can barely see anything without his glasses). He never really expected that the day will come when he can finally say, “Jeon Wonwoo _is_ my boyfriend.”

Mingyu still feels like he’s in a dream whenever he says that.

Mingyu has been spending the remaining days in the Slytherin Dungeon. No one’s really there except Wonwoo, Jihoon, and some other younger Slytherins. Thankfully, the said younger Slytherins don’t spend their time in the common room. They always seem to be outside, having some activities or what not. Mingyu can’t really pay any attention to anything right now other than that sixth year Slytherin.

Aside from Jeon Wonwoo, Mingyu got the latest Nimbus broomstick from his parents. He immediately went to send his parents a letter filled with nothing but gratitude (“Mingyu, you’ve been writing thank you twenty times now, stop.”). He can’t really help it, he didn’t even expect his parents to give him anything this year but here they are.

Mingyu has a hard time keeping up with the time that the next thing he knows, it’s already New Year’s Eve. He doesn’t really know what to expect about how Hogwarts celebrate New Year’s. Usually, his family stays at home and their other relatives would come and join them to wait for the clock to turn 12. Then Mingyu’s dad would light up some firecrackers and all of them would watch it outside with a glass of champagne.

He misses it. He misses his home a lot. But Mingyu’s New Year’s Eve is not actually so bad. It isn’t actually bad at all. For him, it might be one of the best welcomes of a new year. He can already feel that this year will be better than the last.

All the students share a dinner in the Great Hall. And for the first time in Mingyu’s stay in Hogwarts for 6 years, they allowed the students to eat in one table. They choose the Slytherin table and everyone seems to enjoy that they’re all eating together. Of course, Mingyu enjoys it the most. Not that he’s tired of seeing Soonyoung’s face, or maybe that’s just really the sole reason.

After the feast, the professors allow them to stay in the Great Hall. As the Headmistress snaps her fingers, the tables move to the side and they are filled with more food again.

“Is it always like this?” Mingyu asks Wonwoo as they settle on one of the chairs at the side. Mingyu had learned that Wonwoo had stayed for the holidays quite a lot. But when he asked the latter why, he only shrugged and said, “I just don’t really quite feel spending such a beautiful holiday there.” He wanted to ask why again but he didn’t.

Wonwoo shakes his head. “Not really,” he answers. “I mean, yeah, there are always feasts but this party-like thing? It only happened now.”

Mingyu nods as he hums.

“Maybe it’s because you’re here,” Wonwoo suddenly says.

“W-what are y-you talking about?” he stammers. “Don’t be like that!”

Wonwoo chuckles. “Why not?”

Mingyu is about to retort something dumb when a voice says, “Look, they’re so sweet now! They literally can’t look at each other days ago, and now, they can’t even stay away from each other for 5 seconds.”

Mingyu wants to deny it but how can he deny such a true thing? Almost a week ago, he never had any news about Wonwoo. It was like his life didn’t consist of Wonwoo, and now, they’re always together. It’s still new to the both of them and so they aren’t really that close in public. Even if there are only a few students right now in the castle, Mingyu can already hear the whispers circulating around.

Mingyu gives his best friend a glare. “Yeah, blah blah blah,” he mocks. “Where’s your boyfriend now, huh? Are you two done having,” Mingyu wriggles his eyebrows, “ _you know?_ ”

Soonyoung smacks Mingyu’s head. “Bitch, fuck off!”

Mingyu lets a loud laugh. “Don’t come at me when you can’t handle me attacking you, prick.”

Soonyoung only rolls his eyes before walking away. Mingyu only shakes his head at his dumb best friend. He really has no idea what’s going on with Soonyoung and Jihoon right now, he and his best friend didn’t have a proper chat yet. Every time he goes to the Gryffindor tower, Soonyoung is nowhere to be found. Actually, every place Mingyu went to, Soonyoung is nowhere to be found. He wonders where those two have been hiding.

Mingyu looks at Wonwoo and finds his face expressionless but his eyes look amused at the whole thing. “Soonyoung’s a dumbass,” Mingyu says.

Wonwoo chuckles. “Your friendship is amusing.”

“Well, I really can’t remember how we got along so well,” he answers with a shrug. “But it’s all of a sudden, you know? Those kinds of relationships that just clicks into place without you knowing it.”

 _Like us,_ he wants to say.

The Slytherin gives a nod and a small smile. “Yeah, I know.” And it sounds like he really does know.

“ _10! 9! 8…_ ”

Mingyu realizes that everyone is standing and joining the countdown. He looks at Wonwoo and finds him staring at the ceiling with a smile on his face. It seems to be like the surroundings go into a slow motion and everything goes quiet. Mingyu doesn’t notice that he gasps softly until he hears it. Then colorful lights reflect on Wonwoo’s face. Mingyu jerks as loud explosions deafen his ears.

Wonwoo turns to him and Mingyu doesn’t fail to notice the tears building up in his eyes.

“Wonwoo, are you—”

“Happy New Year, Mingyu.”

Mingyu forces a smile. “Happy New Year, Wonwoo.”

* * *

“My boy, Mingyu!” 

Mingyu groans. “Soonyoung, stop calling me that every time you see me!” he hisses.

Soonyoung takes a seat beside him, dropping his books on the table with a loud slam. “Why not? But I’m so proud of you!”

Mingyu can’t help but groan again and roll his eyes. “It’s been almost a week, Soonyoung. Get over it.”

“Dude, you’ve been crushing on Jeon Wonwoo since first year, I’m not getting over this,” the older says.

“Getting over what?”

Mingyu looks up to find Seungcheol taking a seat in front of them. The Head Boy looks at them, an eyebrow raised.

Soonyoung is about to open his mouth when Mingyu steps on his foot hard making the boy cry out in pain. “Nothing,” he lies as he shrugs. “Soonyoung and I just made this stupid bet and I lost so…I guess he’s not getting over his small victory?”

Seungcheol stares at him for a moment, eyes fully not convinced, but to Mingyu’s luck, he drops the subject. “Okay,” Seungcheol says. “We have Quidditch practice tomorrow, okay? I hope your skills are still intact.” With that, the captain stands up and goes to the Ravenclaw table again.

As soon as Seungcheol is out of hearing, Soonyoung shoves Mingyu. “What the fuck was that for?”

Mingyu shoves Soonyoung back. “Look, no one knows about Wonwoo and I except you and Jihoon, okay? I d-don’t want…”

Soonyoung scoffs. “You don’t want what? People talking about you?”

Mingyu gives a small nod. “Plus, I don’t know if Wonwoo wants it out on the public. I haven’t talked to him about that yet.”

“Then talk to him about it,” Soonyoung says. “You won’t be happy if you keep your relationship a secret. I mean, you won’t be able to do the things that you wanna do with Wonwoo because all you’d think about is what other people are going to say. And that really sucks a lot.”

This is one of the rare times when Kwon Soonyoung has a big point. It makes Mingyu wonder if this is still his best friend talking or some other wise organism has taken over his appearance, and his best friend is somewhere out there calling for help. Mingyu decides not to think about the whole thing for now, so he switches the hot seat to his best friend. “What about your relationship though? Is Jihoon now comfortable with it going out to the public?” he asks.

While Mingyu is still safe with the whispers of the whole school, he’s best friend is totally not. When the other students came back from their homes, the news of Kwon Soonyoung and Lee Jihoon dating spread like a wildfire. Although, the news didn’t exactly go as the two would have liked.

Maybe Soonyoung is just the epitome of bad, humiliating rumors. Not a long time ago, Soonyoung and Jihoon were rumored to be shagging outside, and now, they’re rumored to be shagging once again. Mingyu doesn’t really know what truly happened since Soonyoung refused to tell the story. But the circulating rumor involves a first year Slytherin catching the two sixth years shirtless in the Slytherin common room. The two were probably just making out but everyone likes exaggerated stories.

“Soonyoung and Jihoon doing it again?” Mingyu had heard a Hufflepuff said as he was getting books in the library.

“Are you really believing this, guys?” a Ravenclaw had replied. “I don’t think Jihoon is dumb enough to have sex in a place that a lot of people has access to.”

The Hufflepuff shrugged. “Who knows? Everyone has a freaky side after all.”

Mingyu had walked away after that. It was the first time that Mingyu had heard of the rumor. Mingyu had never really had the time to talk to Soonyoung before about that time when he and Wonwoo got caught—or he and Wonwoo caught Soonyoung and Jihoon. Soonyoung was always away, and the times that they were only able to talk to each other is when they’re about to sleep.

But eventually, Soonyoung had opened up to him that he and Jihoon are officially dating. Although, Mingyu never got to hear anything about what happened that night when they accidentally found Jihoon shirtless.

A loud laugh across the room brings Mingyu back to reality. His eyes go to the source at the Hufflepuff table, and he also finds his best friend looking at the said bright Hufflepuff. “So, are you sure about your feelings now?” he asks. “I mean you better be. I don’t really know Jihoon that well but I won’t let you break someone’s heart.”

Soonyoung looks at him. “I’m sure now.” And this time, he sounds like he means it.

After studying in the Great Hall, Mingyu decides to go outside. It’s still cold but Mingyu loves how it’s bright and beautiful outside. He goes by the lake and finds a spot to sit down. The snow feels cold around him but he manages. For the first time, the snow doesn’t make him feel chilly. Maybe it’s because it’s afternoon and it’s not windy, he doesn’t really know.

Staring at the lake in front of him, Mingyu’s mind slips back to Wonwoo. He remembers his watery eyes during the New Year’s countdown. He wants to ask about it but Wonwoo looks so happy lately that he doesn’t want to ruin it by being a nosy git. Although, the memory keeps bothering Mingyu in his dreams.

“Thought you’d be here.”

“Holy fuck!” He turns around, wand suddenly in hand. He sighs in relief as he sees Wonwoo chuckling at him. “Don’t scare me like that!”

Wonwoo chuckles once more before sitting down beside him.

“Did you see me here in your…” Mingyu hesitates, “vision?”

Wonwoo nods as he looks into the distance. “Yeah,” he answers. Then he looks at Mingyu. “I’m sorry if it makes you uncomfortable.”

Mingyu shakes his head vigorously. “No, no! It doesn’t!” he denies. “It’s just, it’s still a bit new to me, you know?”

Wonwoo gives him a smile that immediately makes him feel relaxed and makes his heart warm. “You looked like you’re so deep in thought earlier,” he says.

“Well, I guess I was,” Mingyu says.

“A penny for your thoughts?”

“I was just thinking…” _Should I tell the truth?_ “about our relationship.”

_Goddammit, Mingyu._

The older boy hums. “What about it?”

“Is it okay for you if other people know about u-us?” he asks carefully. He has never really seen Wonwoo being angry before (he wasn’t really angry when he punched and stupefied Aaron), and he doesn’t want his dumb self to be the reason for Wonwoo to be angry now.

Wonwoo looks at him. “Is that a serious question?”

“Uh, yes?” Mingyu hopes that the boy isn’t angry now.

Mingyu hears footsteps and sees that a lot of students have come outside. Wonwoo turns and looks at them before standing up, dusting off the snow on his pants. He nods at Mingyu, indicating that he should follow him. So Mingyu stands up too and dusts off his pants.

Now, the snowy yard is filled with students. Mingyu guesses that everyone’s classes have finished now, and since tomorrow is a Saturday, everyone is eager to go outside and have some fun. Some second-year students start to have a snowball fight, and one of them accidentally hits a first year thus forming a snowball fight between all the second years and first years in the yard.

Mingyu feels a smile forming on his face as the two of them (and also the other students who start to encircle the area) watch the carefree young ones. He misses how fun it is to be younger again with less stressful school works.

His mind is too occupied with what’s happening in front of him that he doesn’t notice Wonwoo is holding his hand until he sees someone looking at him. Then he realizes that they’re looking at their intertwined hands.

“Wonwoo—”

“I don’t care,” the Slytherin says. “Do you?”

“Honestly? No.”

Mingyu feels Wonwoo tightening his grip on his hand as he scoots closer to him. He sighs contently as he feels the warmth that radiates from Wonwoo’s body and smiles as people continue to stare at them.

The two of them go inside after watching the first and second years play for a few more minutes. Mingyu whoops in rejoice as the higher temperature inside the castle warms him immediately. People had stared at them outside for a long time but they manage to ignore all of them. Mingyu can already hear the whispers but he doesn’t care. He’s free to show his love toward Wonwoo, and he’s not going to hesitate.

“Where do you wanna go?” Wonwoo asks him.

“Do you want to get some hot cocoa in the kitchens?” he asks with a grin.

Wonwoo gives him a smile. “Sure.”

They’re about to walk when Wonwoo stretches his arm, stopping him. The Slytherin stares something in front of him, eyes unblinking. He stays like that for a moment and Mingyu can already feel the panic rise inside him. He’s about to shake Wonwoo when the latter blinks and turns to him.

“We should go,” Wonwoo says, his tone urging.

“W-what?” he asks. “What about the hot cocoa?”

Wonwoo tugs his hand. “Let’s go, Mingyu.”

Wonwoo’s tone is firmer so Mingyu doesn’t say anything and follows the older boy.

“Oh, hello.”

Mingyu stops dead in his tracks, Wonwoo tries to pull him but fails. Mingyu can feel his blood boiling, he’s pretty sure his ears are turning red already. He thought he already had enough of this bullshit, he thought that maybe Aaron and his friends would finally leave them alone after getting those detentions but apparently not.

He turns around so fast that it blurs his vision. He scowls at Aaron’s smug-looking grin, he wants to rip it off from his face. He wonders how can someone be such an asshole, and how do some people tolerate such behavior? He doesn’t care if these others are friends with Aaron but if Mingyu was Aaron’s friend, he won’t hesitate to beat Aaron’s ass up.

Mingyu doesn’t know where he gets the courage to hiss, “Leave us the fuck alone, Aaron.”

“Ooh. That attitude suits you, Mingyu, it’s really hot,” Aaron says as his friends laugh.

Suddenly, Wonwoo whips out his wand, pointing it at the Ravenclaws. Mingyu doesn’t fail to notice how they back up a little. But Aaron, being a dick that he is, gets his own wand from his pocket.

Mingyu looks around the hallway and tugs at Wonwoo’s arm. “Let’s just go, Wonwoo. He’s not worth it.”

As if coming to his senses, Wonwoo drops his hand and puts the wand on the back pocket of his jeans. He glares at the Ravenclaws before turning around starting to walk away, resulting to the said Ravenclaws to laugh like they had won a fight. Mingyu is about to follow Wonwoo when he sees Aaron opening his mouth as his hand starts to sway.

Mingyu quickly grabs Wonwoo’s wand from his pocket and points it at Aaron. “ _Expelliarmus!_ ”

“Mingyu, no!”

But Aaron’s wand already flies out of his hand, going across the hallway. Mingyu doesn’t understand why Wonwoo sounded too worried and why after Aaron’s shocking expression, he gives Mingyu a grin.

“What is this, Mr. Kim?”

Mingyu internally groans upon hearing the voice. He turns around and finds their Charms professor standing behind Wonwoo with arms crossed against her chest. Mingyu can’t find any words to say because honestly, how is he going to come up with a lie when he’s already caught red-handed and there’s also the fact that he’s the most terrible liar? He only sighs and lowers his head as he waits for their professor to scold them.

“10 points from Gryffindor,” their professor says.

Mingyu looks up, confused. The professors usually take 50 points when they catch students doing spells in the corridors so why the hell is their Charms professor only taking 10 points?

As if she could read his mind, their professor says, “I saw everything, Mr. Sinclair. 50 points from Ravenclaw.”

“What?” Aaron complains. “But Mingyu—”

“The six of you will receive detention for two weeks, is that clear?”

“But professor—”

“Understood?”

Aaron and his friends have no choice but to agree. “Yes, Professor.”

“Good. Now, go. If I see any of you making threats again, I’d have you on detention for the rest of the year. You too, Mr. Kim.”

Aaron and his friends walk away after that, sulking. Even if their professor included Mingyu on having the next detention if caught again, he can’t help but feel happy. He smiles widely and before he knows it, he’s hugging Wonwoo.

“Can you believe that?” he asks as he pulls away. “Is that why you suddenly didn’t want to go to the kitchens? You just kinda stopped in the middle and didn’t moved. You almost scared me with that, to be honest.”

Wonwoo chuckles sheepishly and nods. “That was…fun. I mean, he almost jinxed us but did you see his face when Professor took 50 points away?”

Mingyu lets out a laugh and hugs Wonwoo again with a sigh. He subtly tightens the hug and buries his face on to Wonwoo’s shoulder.

He and Wonwoo have been dating for almost two weeks now but he has no idea why he hasn’t noticed this before. As he takes a deep breath, some fragrant hits his nose. Those odd yet familiar scents that he smelled from the Amortentia in Potion class finally dawns on him. He looks up at Wonwoo and finds the latter staring at him.

“What is it?” Wonwoo asks.

“You smell like old parchment, something sweet, and lavender,” he mumbles.

Wonwoo is silent for a moment as he thinks. “The scents that you smelled…”

Mingyu nods. Then he remembers what Wonwoo had written and what Soonyoung had said. The smile forming on his face falls off instantly. “Yeah,” he says.

“What’s wrong?” Wonwoo asks him, holding his chin gently to make Mingyu look at him.

“What you wrote on the parchment, it’s not what I smelled like,” Mingyu answers in a low voice.

 _Maybe, we aren’t really for each other_.

“I know,” Wonwoo says. Mingyu’s eyes widen in confusion. “I lied about it. I knew you were going to ask Soonyoung how you smelled like after so I had to change it.”

Mingyu feels like he stopped breathing. “I-I don’t know—”

“I smelled broomstick, freshly cut grass, and vanilla,” Wonwoo says, his eyes not looking away from Mingyu.

_“You?” Soonyoung leans in and sniffs. “You smell like something woody, maybe it’s like a broomstick. You also smell like a freshly cut grass, and there’s more…it’s something sweet…vanilla, perhaps?” Soonyoung looks at him. “You smell like nature, man.”_

“I can’t believe this,” he says.

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that—”

Mingyu cuts Wonwoo off as he puts his hands on the older’s cheeks and pulls him into a kiss. And just like their other kisses, it makes Mingyu shiver as he tastes the sweetness that he always longs for in Wonwoo’s lips. He kisses the Slytherin deeper and the latter happily returns the fervor. They’re both panting as they pull away. And God, Mingyu can’t help but groan as Wonwoo’s eyes flutter as he looks up at him.

“I’m so sorry,” Wonwoo gasps.

“Please, stop apologizing for that, okay? I understand.”

Wonwoo hugs him tight. “You’re really the best thing that happened to me, you know that?”

Mingyu feels his cheeks blushing. “You’re the best thing that happened to me too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I DON'T FUCKING KNOW HOW NEW YEAR'S WORK IN HOGWARTS OKAY I MADE THAT UP LMAOOASHBDGVD IM SORRY


	19. XVIII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mingyu has forgotten everything about Astronomy but it's for Wonwoo so it's okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> first of all, (i think this is getting normal now but anyway) finally done with school and finals so here's an update. i'll try to update thrice this christmas break. i also have NO IDEA when this fic is going to end. i feel like the chapters are getting horrible, please let me know if they are D: this chap is like 90% dialogues hbhdbhs I'M SORRY FOR THE MISTAKES I KNOW THERE ARE THIS IS UNEDITED
> 
> thank you guys! merry christmas in advance, i love you all.
> 
> (ps. with everything that's been happening (may he rest in peace), please do know that you all matter. and i'm here for every single one of you if you ever need someone to talk to. i love you, guys.)

“Mingyu, get your ass over here! You’ve been taking a break for 10 minutes now!”

Mingyu whines and almost wants to bury himself into the ground. Seungcheol is back to being a terror Quidditch captain again and that makes Mingyu want to disappear. They’ve been practicing for almost 6 hours now and Mingyu can’t feel any of his limbs anymore. The others look very exhausted too, even Seungcheol looks like his body is about to give up but his tone sounds otherwise.

“Seungcheol, it’s been 6 hours,” says Catalina, one of their Beaters. “Let us rest. Everyone’s worn out, even you, and don’t try to deny it.”

Mingyu knows that Seungcheol still wants to continue to practice but he gives in anyway with a sigh. “Fine,” Seungcheol says with a wave of his hand. And with that, everyone (except for Mingyu who has been lying on the ground for 10 minutes) fly down to the field.

When they all land, Seungcheol beckons them to form a circle. “You all did a great job today, guys. And because of that we won’t have a practice for the rest of the week.” This earns him a loud cheer from his team. “I’m not going soft on you, guys. It’s just I’ve been too hard on you all lately, you deserve a break.”

“Don’t worry, Seungcheol,” says Soonyoung. “We’ll give you that Quidditch Cup, we promise.” The others give smiles and nod.

A wide smile forms on Seungcheol’s lips before it turns into a hard line. “Well, you better be. We didn’t bust our asses off just for us to lose,” he says.

Seungcheol gives last few reminders before he finally dismisses the team. Mingyu changes first into his casual clothes in the locker room before storing his broomstick in the broomshed. Then he drags his feet back inside. The thought of lying down in his soft, comfy bed is the only thing that keeps him going.

As Mingyu enters the castle, he is met by Wonwoo, who is giving him a smirk. “You’ve been slacking off, huh?”

Mingyu feels the embarrassment coursing through his whole body as they continue to walk. “You were watching?” he asks, feeling a bit nervous for some reason.

“Yeah. Don’t you want me to?” Wonwoo puts his hands inside his pockets.

“No!” Realizing that he just burst out loudly, Mingyu bites his lip and goes silent for a moment. Although he can see Wonwoo’s shoulder shaking from laughter in his peripheral vision. Then he finally says, “No, it’s just that, it’s embarrassing.”

“Mingyu, we’ve been competing against each other for years now and now, you’re getting embarrassed?” Wonwoo chuckles.

Mingyu pouts. “Shut up, we weren’t together back then. It’s different now.”

“Good thing the Slytherin-Gryffindor match happened before we became a thing,” the spectacled boy says.

Mingyu nods in agreement. Although he is very curious on what would happen if they became a thing before the match. “It’d be fun though,” he says.

“Would you cut me some slack off?” Wonwoo asks, grinning.

Mingyu looks at his boyfriend incredulously. “Are you serious? Of course, not.”

Wonwoo stares at him, his face stoic, and Mingyu takes that chance to give him a peck on the cheek. “Well, expect to have more Bludgers coming your way, Mr. Kim,” Wonwoo says. “Because there’s no way I’ll let you win.”

“Well, we won last time,” Mingyu replies with a wink.

“Yeah, and you almost got hit by my Bludgers twice during that match.”

The memories during their first match on their sixth year flashes into Mingyu’s mind. He had been so distracted during that time because of Wonwoo. Those were also the times when Mingyu and Wonwoo didn’t talk yet. And the party resulting of Gryffindor’s victory was the first event of their story on how they became what they are now.

“You were distracting,” Mingyu confesses.

Wonwoo halts and looks at Mingyu. “Really? And all this time I just thought you were having a bad stomach ache.”

Mingyu glares at Wonwoo as the latter lets out a loud laugh. Wonwoo’s laughter is good to hear. It’s still quite new to Mingyu’s ears but it makes his stomach do this weird thing like when he flied for the first time or when they won the Quidditch Cup during his first year as a player. It’s the best feeling ever.

“You have a quiz on Astronomy this week, right?” Mingyu asks, changing the subject. “Do you want to study? I wanna help but it’s not like you need my help or anything. There’s a reason you still have Astronomy and I don’t. I’m just so and at it, you know? I wish I was good though, I—”

“Mingyu, you’re blabbering,” Wonwoo interrupts him.

“I’m sorry,” the younger says in a low voice.

Wonwoo chuckles. “It’s okay,” he says. “I would love for you to help me study. And also, you’re good in everything.”

Mingyu snorts. “Yeah, tell that to our professor in Potions.”

The library is quite full despite the day being Sunday. Well, with N.E.W.T. coming real close, Mingyu can’t blame all these seventh years who are studying very hard to ace the test. He fears for his life once he becomes a seventh year.

It is a bit difficult to find an empty table and Wonwoo almost wants to quit looking for one. Even the secluded areas that Wonwoo told him are full. Mingyu wants to rip his hair out. He just wants to help Wonwoo to study.

“There are other places in the castle. Should we try the Great Hall?” Wonwoo says as they pass by another isle.

“Oh, hey, Mingyu,” a voice suddenly says, making the two stop walking. “Hey, Wonwoo.”

Mingyu and Wonwoo turn around, and find Hong Jisoo at a table, fixing his things. “Hey, Jisoo,” Mingyu greets.

After Jisoo puts all his books inside his bag, he smiles at them. “You can take this table,” he says.

“Thanks,” Wonwoo mutters.

Jisoo gives another smile and nods before walking away.

“Well, I should get some books. Stay at the table so no one will occupy it,” says Wonwoo and leaves.

Mingyu sits down on one of the chairs with a sigh. It has been a long time since he thought about Jisoo and his possible relation to Wonwoo. His thoughts about the whole thing are not coming often like they used to but they still come. He wants to ask Wonwoo about but also, he wants to wait for Wonwoo to tell him. It’s a thing he shouldn’t even know but curiosity is really killing him.

After minutes of just pondering by himself, Wonwoo finally comes back with a stack of books in his hands. He sets them down on the table carefully, not making a sound. Then he sits down on the chair opposite to Mingyu.

Wonwoo stares at him for a whole minute, face expressionless before asking, “What’s the matter? Are you okay?”

“What?” Mingyu scratches the back of his neck. “Everything’s okay. What makes you say that?”

“It’s your face,” Wonwoo says as he opens a book.

Mingyu’s hand involuntarily goes to his face, feeling for something unusual that might be on his face. “What? What’s wrong with my face?”

A smile slowly forms on Wonwoo’s face. “Nothing. It’s just that you have this look on your face,” he says. “Is something troubling you?”

 _Should I tell him?_ A few things have been bothering Mingyu for a while now, but he tries his best to forget all of it. Yet, these things won’t really leave him alone, or maybe he doesn’t want to let go of them. Well, he probably should. Wonwoo will tell him when he wants to, _if_ he wants to.

Mingyu shakes his head. “Nothing,” he lies. He’s been like this a few times now. Thinking whether he should tell Wonwoo what’s on his mind, but he ends up not doing. And now, he thinks he’s getting better at lying now that Wonwoo nods, believing him. Although, there’s a huge possibility that Wonwoo knows he’s lying and he’s only brushing this thing off.

Setting all those thoughts aside, Mingyu grabs a book from the stack and opens it. “Shall we?”

Wonwoo stares at him. “How are we going to do this?”

“Uh, I was thinking about asking you some questions,” he says. “And of course, you’ll answer.”

“Oh,” the Slytherin says.

“And every time you get a correct answer, I’ll reward you with a…kiss.” Mingyu has no idea where that came from but he said it, it’s there now. It almost makes him want to bury himself alive but then he sees Wonwoo’s cheeks turning red, trying not to smile.

Wonwoo smacks his shoulder. “Shut up,” he mutters. “Who are you and what did you do to my boyfriend?”

Now, it’s Mingyu’s turn to blush. “Shut up,” he retorts.

Wonwoo snatches the book from Mingyu’s hands. “Let me read first then.”

Mingyu snatches the book back. “Look, let’s just test your stock knowledge, shall we?” he says. “I’m pretty sure you have no difficulties whatsoever answering my questions even without reading first.”

“You’re expecting high of me.”

“Of course, I am.” Mingyu snorts. “You’re Jeon Wonwoo, you’re smart and amazing.”

The look on the older boy’s face is somewhat hard to read. Wonwoo’s face looks like it’s between amusement and telling Mingyu to shut his mouth up for eternity. With a shake of his head, Wonwoo chuckles and they start.

Mingyu has forgotten all about Astronomy. It’s been a long time (read: one year) since he had that subject after all. So, he tries his best to ask the right questions to Wonwoo which, by the way, are all answered correctly. There isn’t even one moment in which Wonwoo pauses to think of an answer. It’s like the right words are coming out of his mouth naturally.

It’s a good feeling, seeing Wonwoo like this, saying all these words that he knows by heart. It’s always been a knowledge to most of the students in Hogwarts that Jeon Wonwoo is the best student in Astronomy but seeing the said Slytherin’s knowledge in person is making Mingyu’s mouth agape in awe. Plus, the fact that Jeon Wonwoo is his boyfriend. He almost wants to announce in the library that his boyfriend is the best in Astronomy.

They aren’t even halfway through the book when Wonwoo asks for more difficult questions because according to him, “The exam is gonna be real hard.” And so, Mingyu finds and provides harder questions.

It seems like the two of them enjoy it because the library is almost empty (well, except for them, of course) and it’s already evening when they finish. Wonwoo puts all the books back to the shelves and when he comes back, Mingyu is still sitting comfortably on his chair. So, Wonwoo sits again and leans back.

“It’s going to be Slytherin versus Ravenclaw in a few weeks,” Mingyu says. “Are you excited?”

Wonwoo emits a sound that almost sounds like a scoff. “Not really. But I am excited to beat Sinclair up. I swear I’m going to send all the Bludgers to him.”

“Easy now.” Mingyu puts a hand on the older’s shoulder.

Wonwoo looks at him, face empty but eyes full of…was it amusement? His dark eyes are sparkling but his lips formed a thin line. “Are you really telling me to go easy on Aaron Sinclair, the human embodiment of the devil?”

“No.” Mingyu scoffs. “If you take him down, I’d be the loudest person to cheer.”

The Slytherin huffs. “Really? I’m counting on that.”

Mingyu goes silent after that but he smiles at his boyfriend. The moment is short but he knows it’s sweet. He then takes Wonwoo’s hand and squeezes it, Wonwoo squeezes his hand back. “I’m sure Slytherin would win. You guys are amazing, seriously.”

“Well, I hope we do because I don’t want to hear Amadi berating everyone.”

Mingyu imagines the whole thing. Amadi Jang, the scary Quidditch captain of the Slytherin team, berating Wonwoo who’s probably going to just zone out during the whole thing. Mingyu then bursts into laughter and bites his lips to keep himself quiet as he hears the librarian shushing him. Wonwoo joins him, chuckling silently. It takes them a minute or so to recover from the laughter.

The two sixth years talk for a little longer after that. Mingyu feels guilty that he doesn’t really get 70% of what Wonwoo is saying. Yes, he’s listening but the whole thing is not just drilling into his mind. He blames Wonwoo’s deep, smooth voice. It’s distracting him. And he’s going to admit that he can listen to Wonwoo talk all day long, even if it’s about Potions.

Realizing that it’s already dinner time, the two decide to go out of the library now. They still have to be early for classes tomorrow. There’s also the fact that they still have detention because of the stupid stunt that Aaron pulled which resulted in Mingyu doing a spell in the corridor. Even though their Charms professor acknowledged that it was all Aaron’s fault, Wonwoo and Mingyu still have to be in detention. Tomorrow, Wonwoo and Mingyu have to clean all the cauldrons in the Potions’ classroom.

“How was our study then?” Mingyu asks as they go out of the library.

“I think I’m going to ace the quiz,” Wonwoo answers.

“Really?” Mingyu looks at Wonwoo, a playful smile tugging on his lips. “Because I think you’re gonna ace it, with or without me.”

Wonwoo chuckles and shakes his head. “It’s a huge help, Gyu. Seriously, thank you for that.”

Mingyu suddenly stops walking. He knows it’s just a nickname and he’s overreacting, but his heartbeat is so fast, and he can’t stop thinking about it. His mind is practically replaying the damn moment over and over again.

Then Wonwoo puts a hand on his shoulder, and he looks really worried as he asks him frantically. “Is everything alright? Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

“You just called me Gyu,” the younger boy blurts out.

Wonwoo’s mouth forms an ‘o’ and then he stands straight. “I’m sorry. Do you hate it? I will never call you like that again. Mingyu, I’m so sorry—”

“Please, don’t be sorry!” Mingyu cuts in and a wide smile forms on his face. He’s literally beaming with happiness. “It’s fine. It’s actually more than fine. I really like it.”

Wonwoo lets out a sigh in relief. “Well, thank God. I thought you’re gonna hate me for that.”

“Me? Hating you? Oh, please,” Mingyu says. “Like that’s ever gonna happen.”

Wonwoo suddenly takes his hand. “I’d be really sad if that happens.”

Mingyu bumps into the older boy lightly. “Oh, stop with that thought. I don’t like where it’s going.”

Wonwoo only chuckles.

The Great Hall is already buzzing when they arrive. The two part ways and go to their respective tables. As Mingyu is approaching the Gryffindor table, he can already see the annoying smile on Soonyoung’s face.

When he reaches the table, he playfully shoves Soonyoung before sitting down. “I told you to stop with that smile, get over it, Soonyoung,” Mingyu mutters under his breath. He has no reason to mutter, the whole school practically knows what Mingyu and Wonwoo are already. But Mingyu’s still used to talking to Soonyoung about anything Wonwoo related in hushed voices.

“Dude, I’m just smiling.”

“Whatever.”

It takes longer than usual before the dinner starts because their Headmistress has an important announcement. Mingyu almost falls asleep halfway through the announcement, and he only regains his full consciousness once the plates of food appear in front of them.

Mingyu finishes his meal fast. After all the things they did in Quidditch practice today, and also, his mind may be or may be not exhausted from helping Wonwoo. (He literally only asked questions to Wonwoo but his brain got tired, don’t judge). In the end, Mingyu feels very satisfied with his dinner, and that’s all that matters.

Soonyoung leaves the table first after patting Mingyu’s shoulder. Mingyu’s eyes follow his best friend and finds the latter at the Slytherin table then leaving it with Jihoon. Mingyu rolls his eyes and shakes his head.

Then his eyes move toward the Slytherin table, looking for a certain Slytherin. Instead of finding the spectacled Slytherin alone or with his best friend, Junhui, Mingyu finds Wonwoo talking to Jisoo.

_Jisoo. Who are you, really?_

Not wanting to watch them anymore, Mingyu stands up and leaves the table. It’s not that he’s jealous, he really isn’t—or maybe he is, he doesn’t know now. But what hurts the most is that he feels clueless about his own boyfriend. And maybe he’s a horrible person for thinking that way but it still feels like he doesn’t know Wonwoo at all, and it sucks. He wishes he can know now but he has to wait. He wants for Wonwoo to tell it to him because he wants to, and not because Mingyu wants to know.

Mingyu is already toward the moving staircases when someone calls him.

“Mingyu!”

He stops walking and turns around to find Wonwoo jogging toward him. “Oh, hey, Wonwoo,” he says.

“Junhui and I are going to Hogsmeade after detention tomorrow, wanna come?” Wonwoo asks as soon as he stops jogging.

“W-what?”

Mingyu must have look so dumbfounded because Wonwoo chuckles. “Junhui wants to buy a present for Minghao for Valentine’s.”

“Isn’t Valentine’s next week?” Mingyu asks.

“Yeah, well, he said he wants to buy a present early so…Do you wanna come?” Wonwoo replies.

“Sure,” Mingyu says.

Wonwoo nods with a small smile before turning around and starting to walk away. The he stops and turns back to Mingyu again. “It’s Jisoo, isn’t it?”

“W-what?” he stammers again.

“It’s Jisoo that’s bothering you,” Wonwoo says.

“No—I mean yes but—Look, it’s just not my place,” Mingyu rambles. “I shouldn’t have known it anyway.”

“It’s okay, Mingyu.” Wonwoo nods understandingly. “I’ll tell you everything tomorrow.”

Mingyu shakes his head vigorously. “What? No! It’s okay, you don’t have to do it.”

“I want to tell you, Mingyu,” Wonwoo says, his voice low and Mingyu is not able to decipher his tone. It’s too neutral. “You kinda already know about it anyway, so you deserve to know everything about it.”

Mingyu doesn’t get what Wonwoo says but before he can say anything, Wonwoo turns around again and leaves for good. _Kinda already know about it?_ _What was he talking about? And here I thought all those weird mysteries are over now._ Mingyu sighs. He goes to the Gryffindor tower with an empty, heavy feeling in the pit of his stomach.


End file.
